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rHOM A PICTURE IN POSSESSION OF THE NY. HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



NEGROLAND; 

OE, 

LIGHT THROWN UPON THE DARK CONTINENT. 
THE HISTORY OF 

AFRICAN EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURE 

AS QIYEN IN THE LEADING AUTHORITIES 

/ FROM 

HEEODOTUS TO THE LATEST EXPLOEEES, 

DfCLUDma 
LIVINGSTON, SPEKE, BAKJER, STANLEY, JOHNSTON, & OTHERS. 

BY ^^ 

CHAKLES h/JONES. 

WITH ADDITIONS BY PROF. H. L. WILLIAMS. 



WITH NUMEEOUS ILLUSTRATIONSC^l^"^^^ r^ght.^^^ 

JUN 16 J8J 

NEW YOKE: ^^^^^J^FWASH^^i^"^' 

HUKST & CO., PUBLISHEKS, 

122 Nassau Street. 



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PBEFAOE. 



OuE knowledge of the geography and peoples of Africa has 
grown very rapidly during the past thirty years, and is grow- 
ing still. Probably no portion of the world has been made 
the subject of so many books in so short a time ; and these, 
added to the records of earlier explorers, constitute a literature 
of such dimensions that only those readers who have abundant 
leisure, and who are conversant with at least three languages, 
can hope to become familiar with it. And yet nearly every 
intelligent reader, especially when any new book of African 
travel has attracted his attention, desires to have a distinct and 
definite conception of what has been accomplished, and of 
what remains to be accomplished, in the way of discovery ; 
it is impossible, for instance, for any one to grasp the really 
important facts in Dr. Schweinf urth's great work, or in Living- 
stone's recently published "Journals," without knowing just 
how far the discoveries therein recorded supplement those of 
other explorers, and what relation they bear to the existing 
body of geographical and ethnographical knowledge. To 
supply such information is the object of the present work. If 
its execution corresponds with its plan, the reader will find here 
a record of explorations in Africa from the time of the Phce- 
nicians to the death of Livingstone, comprehensive enough to 
put him in possession of all the essential facts and successive 
steps in the opening of that mysterious continent, and at the 
same time detailed enough to give him a fair conception of the 
work performed by each of the more prominent individual ex- 
plorers. 



iv PREFACE. 

Its usefulness, however, will not, it is believed, be confined 
to the class of busy readers above indicated. Those who 
read for themselves the numerous books of African travel, 
can only by the closest attention to the text and persistent 
study of the maps understand what relation the work of each 
explorer bears to that of the others. To the difficulty, in it- 
self great, of carrying many details in the mind, is to be added 
that which comes from the diversity of nomenclature on the 
part of the various writers. Scarcely any two of them give the 
same name to any comparatively obscure place, and when they 
do, are very likely to spell it in a diiferent way. The Londa 
country, for instance, of Livingstone's first book, is the same 
as the Cazembe of his second, while Magyar, who was the first 
to explore it, writes of it as the Moluwa kingdom. The 
Uganda and Karagwe, which Burton describes on hearsay evi- 
dence in his book, are by no means the Uganda and Karagwe of 
Speke. And the Bari tribe of Speke becomes the Barre nation 
in Baker's last book. Such diversities as these are innumera- 
ble ; and if the present work did no more than remove them, 
it w^ould relieve the study of African exploration of a most 
fruitful source of confusion. 

As to the special contents of the book, while the first care has 
been to make the record of geographical discoveries complete, 
scarcely less attention has been bestowed upon the accounts 
of the character, habits, customs, industries, and distinguishing 
traits of such members of that vast network of tribes which 
makes up the savage population of Africa as modern travellers 
have made known to us. In these respects the comparatively 
brief chapters of the present work are scarcely less full than the 
original bulky volumes from which the material for them was 
taken. The portion of the various narratives which has been 
only slightly touched upon is that— a considerable part of the 
whole — which relates to purely personal experiences, and ad- 
ventures of little or no importance ; but even of these the most 



PREFACE. V 

characteristic have been retained, and are described for the 
most part in the authors' own words. 

The introductory chapter and the chapter on Christian 
Missions were taken — after such elisions, additions, and alter- 
ations as to make them substantially new — from a work on 
African exploration, as viev/ed from the missionary stand-point, 
which appeared recently in England. In the preliminary 
sketches and summaries, the most authentic materials to be ob- 
tained were used; and where detailed accounts of separate 
journeys are given, the reports of those who performed them 
have been consulted without partiality or bias of any kind. 

No special mention of the sources from which the illustra- 
tions were taken is necessary, as they came in most instances 
from the various works which furnished the substance of the 
texr. C H. J, 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGS 

Topograptiical and General 1 

CHAPTER IL 
Madagascar 35 

CHAPTER in. 
Notices of Earlier African Travellers 43 

CHAPTER IV. 
Recent Explorations , 53 

CHAPTER V. 
Barth, Overweg, and Richardson. — Ashantee 61 

CHAPTER VI. 
Livingstone's Earlier Journeys 87 

CHAPTER Vn. 
Livingstone's Journey Across the Continent 107 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Andersson's Explorations in South Africa \ 152 

CHAPTER IX. 
Magyar's Explorations in South Africa 171 

CHAPTER X. 
Du Chaillu's Explorations in Equatorial Africa 184 

CHAPTER XI. 
Serval's Travels on the Ogowai* .....,♦ 231 



viii , CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 

Burton and Speke 238 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Speke and Grant 267 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Sir Sainuel Baker : 292 

* 

CHAPTER XV. 
Livingstone's Discovery of Lake Nyassa : . . , » 335 

CHAPTER XVL ' \ 
Stanley and Livingstone ; , . 355 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Livingstone's Last Journeys and Death 375 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Schweinfurth 419 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Sir Bartle Frere's Mission to Zanzibar. 458 

CHAPTER XX. 
Christian Missions in Africa 464 

CHAPTER XXL 
^offat, the Missionary 471 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Thomsdo's Journey in Eastern Africa 489 



1 



I'D 1 A 

7»r 




illMBMillMIlM 



AF BI A. 



OIIAPTER I. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL AKD GENERAL. 

Our knowledge of the great continent of Africa until within 
the past twenty-five years was very limited. The Phoenicians 
are known to have formed colonies on the northern coast at a 
very early period, perhaps not less than three thousand years 
ago. The conquest of Cambj^ses dates as far back as the 
year b. c. 525. Therefore, at that time, the coasts of Egypt, 
of the Hed Sea, and the Mediterranean were settled, and 
were well known to the ancient Asiatics, who w^ere constantly 
crossing the narrow isthmus which divided their country 
from Africa, and which led them at once from parched des- 
erts into a fertile valley, watered by a magniticeut river. 
Herodotus tells us that Necho, King of Egypt, sent out an 
expedition under the command of certain Phoenician seamen, 
with the design of circumnavigating Africa. If these ex- 
plorers ever accomplished their purpose, the result is not 
known. Half a century afterwards there was another ex- 
pedition, of which we know only the fact of its existence. 
Discovery there was none. 

The Ptolemies were tlie great patrons of science and discov- 
ery in their tune ; but, notwithstanding this fact, there was 
but little progress made, under their direction, in the knowl- 
edge of Africa. The Pomans, who subsequently possessed 
Egypt, did not penetrate beyond their own dependencies. 
We have no means of judging as to the knowledge of Interior 
Africa which was obtained by the Carthaginians. Their mer- 
chants, it is said, had reached the banks of the Niger ; but 
there is no evidence to show tliat they had ever gone so far. 



2 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENEBAL. 

Delisle, Iluet, and Bochart, in later times, extended tlie knowl- 
edge of the country as far south as Mozambique and Mada- 
gascar. But even these were disputed, and unacknowledged 
as discoveries. 

In respect to the interior of Northern Africa, our first authen- 
tic information is obtained from the iVrabs, who, by means of 
the camel, were enabled to cross tlie great desert to the centre 
of the continent, and to proceed along the two coasts as far as 
the Senegal and the Gambia on the west, and to Sofala on the 
east. Here the Arabs, at a remote date, planted colonies, at 
Sofala, Mombas, Melinda, and other places. 

In tlie fifteenth century there was a new era in maritime 
discovery. The voyages of the Portuguese were the first to 
give anything like an accurate outline of the two coasts, and 
to complete the circjumnavigation of the continent. The 
discovery of America and the islands of the West Indies gave 
rise to that horrid traffic in the sale of African negroes which 
has continued for so many years, and which, though now 
happily reduced in its main demands, is not yet quite at an 
end. But tliis traffic, nefarious as it is in every respect, was 
the means of obtainins; a more extended and accurate knowl- 
edsie of the coast as it lies between the Rivers Senesral and the 
Cameroons. With the establishment of French and English 
settlements in Africa, there began systematic surveys of the 
coast and of tlie interior. 

Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort thus sums up the surveys of 
the coast of Africa, reaching to the date of 1848 : " From the 
Strait of Gibraltar, the western coast of Africa has been care- 
fully surveyed, and the results published so far as to extend 
to Cape Formosa in the Bight of Benin ; but many of the 
ports and anchorages on this side of the Cape of Good Hope 
require a more careful and connected examination. The 
charts of the whole of the Cape Colony are exceedingly defec- 
tive, although they have been much improved in recent years. 
From Delagoa to the Red Sear, and the whole contour of 
Madagascar, are sufficiently represented on the charts for the 
general purposes of navigation, though many other researches 
along the former coast might still be profitably made. Tlie 
Red Sea has been well surveyed by the East India Company." 
The northern shore of Africa, with the exception of Egypt, has 
been surveyed by the English and French. 

Much uncertainty and confusion having obtained in regard 
to the geography of the interior of Africa, a few learned and 
Bcientitic gentlemen in England formed themselves into a 



TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL. S 

society in 1788, nnder tlie name of " The African Association," 
their design being the exploration of Inner Africa. Under 
tlie auspices of this Association, important additions were made 
to the geography of Africa by Houghton, Mungo Park, 
Ilornemann, and Burckhardt. But repeated failures dis- 
couraged the Society, and it was merged in the Royal G^bo- 
graphical Society in 1831. 

Much more has been done during the last eighty years to 
make us acquainted with the geography of Africa than liad 
been accomplished in the preceding eighteen centuries, or 
since the days of Ptolemy. Strictly speaking, it w^as with 
Mungo Park that vigorous efforts to explore the interior of 
Africa began. He went, in 1795, from the Kiver Gambia, on 
the south-west coast, to the Joliba (or Niger), traced this river 
as far as the town of Silla, explored the intervening countries, 
determined the boundary of the Sahara, and returned in 1797. 
lie was a most adventurous traveller, and pi-oceeded on a 
second journey to the same regions in 1805, with the design of 
descending the Joliba to its mouth. But this expedition did 
not greatly add to previous knowledge, and it cost the traveller 
his life. He had passed Timbuctoo, and had reached Boussa, 
when he was drowned in attempting to escape from the natives. 

In 1799 Ilornemann went from Cairo to Murzook, and from 
that place transmitted valuable information in regard to the 
countries lying to the south, especially Bornu. He then pro- 
ceeded still farther in the same direction ; but it is supposed 
that he soon afterwards perished, as no accounts of his subse- 
quent progress ever reached Europe. An expedition w^as sent 
out by the English Government under the command of Cap- 
tain Tuckey in 1816. Tlie destination intended was the Piver 
Congo, which, at that time, was supposed to be the low^er 
course of the Joliba. But the undertaking was the reverse of 
prosperous. It ascended the river only two hundred and 
eighty miles, and obtained but little information. Lyon and 
Eitchie went from Tripoli to Murzook in 1819. In 18^2 
Denham, Clapperton, and Oudne}^ started from Tripoli in tlie 
same direction, crossed the Great Desert, and, on the 4th of 
February, 1823, reached the great Lake Tsad (or Tcliad). 
They explored the surrounding countries as far as Sakatoo on 
the west, and Mandara on the south. Their journey was most 
successful and important. Oudney died in 13ornu. Clapper- 
ton undertook a second journey from the coast of Guinea, 
crossed the Kawara, and readied Sakatoo, at which place he 
also died. Pichard Lander, his servant, returned to England 



4: TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 

ufter having explored a portion of the surrounding country. 
Major Laing afterwards succeeded in reaching Timbuctoo from 
Tripoli, but was murdered in the desert on his return. In 
1827-'28 Caiile went from Kio Nunez on the western coast, and 
reached Timbuctoo, returnino- tlirouo-h the Great Desert to 
Morocco. In 1830 Richard Lander and his brother succeeded 
in tracing the termination of the Joliba, or JSTiger, following 
its course from Yaouri down to its mouth. In 1832 they 
embarked on a second expedition, with tlie design of ascending 
the same stream as far as Timbuctoo ; but they reached Babba 
only, and the general results of their enterprise were most 
disastrous. Another great IsTiger expedition was Utted out by 
the British government in 1841. It consisted of three steamers, 
and was placed under the command of Captain Trotter. But 
it proved a failure, and resulted in a melancholy loss of life. 
Mr. Duncan, one of the survivors, made some additions to our 
<yeographical knowledge by his journey to Adafoodia in 1845- 
'46. He was an enterprising traveller, and met an untimely 
death in a second attempt, in the same region, for the purpose 
of reaching Timbuctoo. 

These journeys had been principally restricted to the north- 
ern and western portions of the continent. A much larger 
number of travellers had explored the regions drained by the 
Nile, the salubrity of which, especially in Abyssinia, is much 
greater than Western Africa — so much, indeed, that among 
the many explorers of the former, a very small proportion 
have died as compared with the great loss of life in Western 
Africa. Among the most distinguished of the East African 
travellers are Bruce, Brown (who reached Darfoor), Burck- 
hardt, Caillaud, Rlippell, Russegger, Beke, and the Egyptian 
expeditions up the Nile. 

^ The Dutch founded a settlement in South Africa as early as 
1650 ; but not much information respecting the interior of that 
part of the continent was obtained till the end of the following 
century, when a sei'ies of journeys was commenced by Spar- 
mann, and followed up by Yaillant, Barrow, Trotter, Somer- 
ville, Lichenstein, Burchell, Campbell, Thomson, Alexander, 
and Harris. 

In the early part of the present century many, in England, 
manifested a deep interest in the various parts of Inner Airica; 
and, since that date, im|.)ortant discoveries have been made 
which have partly lifted the veil which had hitherto enveloped 
this part of the world in apparently impenetrable mystery. 

The Church Missionary Society of London established a 



TOPOGBAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 5 

mission at Mombas, in about 4° S. lat., on the east coast of 
Africa, and to this station they appointed Messrs. Krapf and 
Redmann. From 1847, these gentlemen long continued to 
explore the interior from that direction. At several hundred 
miles from the coast they discovered high mountains covered 
with perpetual snow. This fact is the more remarkable on 
account of the nearness of these mountains to the equator. 
The existence of snow on the mountains of Kilimanjaro and 
Kenia has been disputed with but little reason. These two 
remarkable peaks, to judge from the description of the mis- 
sionaries, seem to be isolated cones, rising out of regions com- 
paratively little elevated, and surrounded by plains in the same 
way as Mount Ararat, Mount Hermon, or the Sierra I^evada de 
Santa Martha in the equatorial regions of South America. 

Missionaries were the pioneers of geographical discovery also 
in South Africa. Kolobeng (in lat. 24° 40' S., long. 25° 55^ 
E.) is a far inland station, and, at the time of his appointment 
to it, David Livingstone was much nearer to the Kalahari 
Desert than was any one of his fellow-laborers. On the 1st 
of June, 1849, Mr. Livingstone, the missionary, accompanied by 
Messrs. Oswell and Murray, started on their journej^ from Kol 
obeng, with the design of i*eachiiig a lake which had long been 
reported to €xist in the interior. In subsequent pai^es we shall 
furnish particulars of their journe}^, and the results of it, as 
well as of subsequent explorations, both by these and other 
travellers, as they have become known to us, but the details of 
which would be unsuitable here, in this introductory summary. 
Livingstone, Oswell, and Murray, after having travelled three 
hundred miles through the Kalahari Desert, came upon a tine 
river, the Zouga, which issues from the lake of which they were 
in search. They followed it upwards of three hundred miles, 
when they reached the eastern extremity of the lake, the chief 
name of which is Ngami, and which has an elevation of two 
thousand eight hundred and twenty-iive feet above the level ot 
tlie sea. In 1851, Livingstone and Oswell started again for the 
north, but, on this occasion, took a course more easterly. They 
reached the latitude of 17° 25' S., and discovered the Chobe 
and Sesheke, deep and constantly flowing rivers, supposed by 
them at the time to be the feeders of the Zambesi. The Zoiiga 
they believed to be absorbed in sands and salt-pans. 

Captain Vardon explored the region of country to the north- 
east of Kolobeng, tracing the Kiver Limpopo to a considerable 
distance. Gassiot made an intei'esting journey, in 1851, from 
Port Natal north-v^est, through the mountains, keeping along 



6 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENEBAL. 

their western slope, and ultimately reaching Limpopo. In the 
course of the same year, Messrs. Andersson and Galton explored 
a part of South Africa from WaMsch Bay^ on the west coast, 
extending from that point as far as 17° 58' S. lat. in the north, 
and to 21° E. long, in the east, and inhabited by the Damara 
and Ovampo. There were not many interesting particulars 
noted; but the whole region was accui-ately determined, and b}^ 
this means the journey claims to rank as one of great impor- 
tance. 

In 1852, a journey was made b}^ Mr. Plant of !Natal, from 
that place to Delagoa Bay, in which he discovered tiiat St. 
Lucia Bay leads into an extensive inlet previously unknown. 

To the north of the equator, the mission to Lake Tsad origi- 
nated with Mr. James Richardson. He left England in 1849, 
for the purpose of concluding (commercial treaties with the 
chiefs of Northern Africa, as far as Lake Tsad, by means of 
which the legitimate trade with those countries might be ex- 
tended, and slavery abolished. Upon the proposal of Mr. 
Petermann, Dr. Barth and Mr. Overweg accompanied Mr. 
Pichardson, for the purpose of making scientific observations. 
The particulars in respect to this expedition we shall note in 
future pages. It will be sufficient here to observe that these 
three gentlemen started from Tripoli on the 23d of March, 
1850, after having minutely surveyed the mountainous I'egion 
to the south of that place. During the first year, they success- 
fully crossed the whole of the Sahara, in a ver}^ circuitous and 
westerly direction, and thus explored a great portion of North- 
ern Africa, which had never before been visited by any Euro- 
pean. Their route from Ghat to Kano, in particular, led them 
through the powerful kingdom of Air, or Asben, and was 
highly interesting. In the second 3'ear, the travellers explored 
a large portion of Soudan, in difierent directions, for which 
p'iirpose they separated on their arrival at the northern frontiers 
of that country, pursuing different routes, it being their purpose 
to meet at Kuka, the capital of Bornu. Barth and Overweg 
reached that place in safety, but Pichardson died on the way, 
within six days' journey of it, in March, 1851. The other trav- 
ellerSj nothing daunted, continued their explorations, Barth 
penetrating three hundred and fifty miles to the south, as far 
as Yola, the capital of the kingdom of Adamaua ; and Overweg 
navigating Lake Tsad in a boat, which, with great labor, had 
boon conveyed in pieces, on the backs of camels, from Tripoli, 
across the burning sands of the Sahara. In September, 1851, 
the travellers set out together on a journey to Borgu, a moun- 



TOPOOBAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 7 

taiuous country lying to the north-east of Lake Tsad, about 
midway between it and Egypt. They travelled under the pro- 
tection of a large army of the Sheikh of Bornu, which, however, 
was attacked at no great distance beyond Lake Tsad, and put to 
flight so suddenly, that Barth and Overweg saved tlieir lives 
and instruments only by a quick retreat- Having returDed to 
Kuka, they set out southwards with a large escort as before, 
and, on this occasion,' they explored the country a considerable 
distance beyond Mandara, the farthest point of Denham's 
journey, and found the districts through which they passed re- 
mark-able for their fertility. With the beginning of the third 
year of their explorations, Barth made a journey to Maseiia, the 
capital of the kingdom of Baghirmi, to the south-east of Lake 
Tsad, while Overweg, travelling in a south-westerly direction, 
reached within one hundred and fifty miles of Facoba, tlie 
great town of the Fellatahs. And this was his last journey. 
On his return he was seized, with fever at Kuka, and, after a 
short and severe illness, died, the second victim in that expedi- 
tion, in September, 1852. Barth was just about to start 'for 
Timbuctoo, and a reinforcement, consisting of Dr. Yogel and 
two soldiers, a sapper and a miner, were despatched to' liis as- 
sistance. The details of his travels, and those of others who 
have succeeded him, in African exploration, we shall, to avoid 
repetition, give in subsequent chapters. 

The name of this great Continent has been the subject of 
discussion among philologists and antiquarians. The Greeks 
called it Libya Ai/jvr/^ and the Bomans Africa. Yarro be- 
lieved he had found the etymology in Zids, the Greek name of 
the south-wind, and Servius proposed to derive the Boman 
name from the Latin word aprica (sunny), or the Greek word 
apkrike (without cold). The probability is that the name Li- 
bya ^vas derived by the Greeks from the name of the people 
whom they found in possession of the country to the westward 
of Egypt, and who are believed to have been those that are 
called in the IIebre^v Scriptures Lehabim or LuMm. Suidas 
informs us that Africa was the proper name of that great city 
which the Bomans called Carthago, and the Greeks Karche- 
don. There is no room, at all events, for doubt that this was 
the name applied originally to the country in the immediate 
neighborhood of Carthage, which w^as the part of the conti- 
nent lirst known to the Bomans, and that it w^a,s subsequently 
extended, as their knowledge increased, so as to include the 
whole continent. As to the meaning of the name, the language 
of (Carthage supplies a simple and natural explanation — the 



8 TOPOORAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 

word Afrygah meaning in that tongue a separate establish* 
ment, or, in other words, a colony, as Carthage was of Tyre ; 
so that the ancient Phoenicians, at home, may have spoken of 
tiieir Afrygah, just as the English in our day speak of their 
colonies. The native Arabs of the present day still give the 
name of Afrygah or Afrikiyah to the territory of Tunis. The 
name does not seem to have been used by the Romans till after 
the first Punic war, at which time they became acquainted 
with what they afterwards called Africa Projpria. 

Africa lies between the latitudes of 38° N. and 35° S., and 
is of all the continents the most tropical. Strictly speaking, it 
is, naturally, an enormous peninsula, which, before the com- 
pletion of the Suez canal, was attached to Asia by the Isthmus 
of Suez ; now it may be described as a great insular continent. 
The most northern point is the Cape, situated a little to the 
west of Capo Blanco, and opposite Sicily, which is in lat. 37° 
W M)" K, long. 9° 41' E. Its most southerly point is Cabo 
d'Agulhas, in 34° 49' 15'' S. ; the distance between these two 
points being four thousand three hundred and thirty geographi- 
cal, or about five thousand statute miles. The most westerly 
point is Cabo Yerde, in long. 51° 21' E., lat. 10° 25' K, the 
distance between the two points being about the same as its 
length. The Atlantic washes the western coasts, the Mediter- 
ranean the northern, and the Indian Ocean the eastern. It is 
difiicult to estimate the superficial extent of such a country as 
Africa ; but it has been taken at eight million five hundred and 
fifty thousand geographical square miles, exclusive of the is- 
lands. It is larger than Europe or Australia, but smaller than 
the Asian and American continents. The coast-line is very 
regular and unbroken, and there are not man}^ bays or penin- 
sulas. The principal inlet is the Gulf of Guinea, with its sec- 
ondary divisions, the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. 
On the northern coast are the Gulf of Sidra and the Gulf of 
Xabes, and on the eastern the Gulf of Arabia. 

In regard to physical conformation, Africa consists of the 
great plain, the table-lands, and the mountain ranges and groups 
of the central and southern division. The plain includes the 
Saliara, the region of Lake Tsad, and the valley of the Lower 
Nile. The Sahara is not a plain in its whole extent, but for 
the greater part it rises into table-lands, with mountain groups, 
in some instances of more than six thousand feet elevation. 

The designation, plain, seems merely to be a general term of 
distinction by which this part of the country is separated from 
tiie more elevated region to the south. The Sahara is not a 



TOPOGBAPHIGAL AND OENERAR 9 

monotonous expanse of sand; on the contrar}^, there is great va- 
riety in its conformation and character. This great desert is 
fringed on the north with far-extending table -lands, which in 
some places rise abruptly from the Mediterranean to the height 
of one thousand five hundred feet, and then gradaally descend 
to the Delta of the Mle. There is then an elevated region to 
the south, which extends from the Great Syrtis, or Gulf of Sidra, 
as I'ar as Middle Egypt, and comprises the oases of Augila and 
Siwah. The level of this region is so low that the oasis of 
Siwah is as much as one hundred feet below the level of the 
sea. This region is again followed b}^ a table-land of large ex- 
tent, probably traversing the Lybian desert, and reaching as far 
as the first cataract on the Nile. The north-western part, as 
far as Sokna, consists of the Haraadah, which is a ston}^, dreary, 
and extensive table-land, of from one thousand five hundred to 
two thousand feet high, which intercepts the progress of com- 
merce and civilization from the shores of the Mediterranean to 
Central Africa. This table-land is known to us principally from 
the reports of Richardson, Earth, Overweg, and Dickson. Not 
far from Sokna, the plateau is broken up, and forms the Jebel- 
es-Soudy, or Black Mountains ; and, again, on the route from 
Murzook to Egypt, it is split up into picturesque cliffs, which 
bear the name of El-Harouj. On the side towards Tripoli, it is 
bordered by the Gharian Mountains. This range is not, as some 
have supposed,, connected with the Atlas Mountains. It is sep- 
arated from them by a depressed belt, which sinks even below 
the level of the sea. This, low-lying region is the western 
boundary of the Sahara, and it extends from the Gulf of Kabes 
along the southern slope of the Atlas system to the Wady Draa, 
bordering on the States of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis. Tuat, 
an extensive oasis, occupies the central portion of this territory. 
From AYady Draa the great plain extends along the western shore 
as far as the E-iver Senegal, and probably continues as far as Tim- 
buctoo, and Lake Tsad. Beyond the Hamad ah, southwards, the 
kingdom of Fezzan and the oasis of Ghadamis are flat and low; 
and between Fezzan and Lake Tsad, there is a tract of country 
which may also be considered rather as a desert than a table- 
land. The western half of the Sahara is thus surrounded by a 
broad belt of plains and depressions, the central parts being 
formed by great table-lands and mountains, and comprising the 
kingdom of Air, or Asben, explored by Richardson, Earth, and 
Overweg. The route which was followed by Dr. Earth in his 
journey to Agadez, the capital of that kingdom, was girt by 
mountain ranges and groups, rising to three thousand and four 



10 TOPOQBAPEIGAL AND GENEBAL. 

thousand feet. Mount Dogera, the culminating point of these 
rauges, is between four thousand and five thousand feet high. 
The eastern portion of the Sahara is a considerably elevated 
table-land, comprising the mountainous country of Eorgu. The 
hi^-hest summit in the whole rea^ion is said to be Ercherdat- 
Erner. The narrow valley of the Nile is the eastern boundary 
of the Great Desert. 

To the south of this region, Africa is a great mass of ele- 
vated land, rising more or less above the level of the sea. 
Some geographers have maintained that they can trace a sys- 
tem of terraces on all sides. It is certainly so on the southern 
side, but the same feature is not discernible throughout. In- 
deed, generally speaking, the plateau on the other sides either 
gradually slopes down into a plain along the sea-shore, or rises 
abruptly out of the sea, and presents a deep edge of from seven 
thousand to eight thousand feet elevation. The edge of the 
table-land is, however, usually from one hundred to three hun- 
dred miles distant from the sea. Beginning at Cape Colony, 
there is an almost uninterrupted table-land, extending to the 
north for at least one thousand geographical miles. The basin 
of the Orange E-iver forms the southern portion, and this is 
succeeded by the Kalahari Desert, which is again continued by 
the basin of the Sesheke and Lake Ngami, there being many 
rivers, while the whole region is level, and Ngami two thou- 
sand eight hundred and tw^enty-five feet above the sea. There 
is no doubt a connection between this territory and the basin 
of the Zambesi. To the north, the ground rises and forms the 
water-shed between the basins of the Congo River and Lake 
Nyassa. In this region were supposed to lie " the Mountains 
of the Moon," so frequently mentioned in the ancient geogra- 
phy of Africa. The site of them was continually shifted from 
one latitude to another, while all agreed that tliey ran from 
east to west ; but Dr. Beke, from personal observation, deter- 
mined that they had a direction from south to north, and were 
parallel witli the eastern coast, and that they form the southern 
continuation of the Abyssinian table-land. The most elevated 
peaks rise on the outer edge of the range, between it and the 
coast, and as isolated cones. The Kenia and Kilimanjaro, 
part of this system, and two of its peaks, are, as we have said, 
snowy mountains, and, that being their character, they must 
have an elevation of at least twenty thousand feet. Abba 
Yared, in the northern edge of the Abyssinian table-land, is 
fifteen thousand feet ; Mendif, south of Lake Tsad, is isolated, 
and is probably ten thousand feet high ; and Alantika, con- 



TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL. \\ 

spicuons to the south of Tola, 8° 30' IST. lat., 13° 45' E. long., 
is also isolated, and estimated bj Dr. Barth at ten thousand. 
The loftiest of the Camerooiis is thirteen thousand seven hun- 
dred and sixty feet high, and, in Southern Africa, the Spits 
Kop, or Compass Berg, is ten thousand two hundred and 
fifty. 

the Atlas Mountains occupy the north-western region of 
Africa, consisting of several ranges, their loftiest summits ris- 
ing to an altitude of about fifteen thousand feet. 

The most frequently occurring and. most widely distributed 
rock formations in Africa are those of sandstone and limestone ; 
natron, which is rare in other countries, is comparatively abun- 
dant. There is salt in some parts, but elsewhere it is entirely 
wanting. Metals are nowhere abundant ; gold, however, is 
fourd in small amounts in various localities, and iron in the 
district of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and elsewhere. Precious stones 
are found in most of the tropical countries ; but here the}^ are 
of rare occurrence. At present the discovery of diamonds in 
the region of the Cape has excited considerable public interest, 
and individuals, now and again, have profited by their labor ; 
but time is necessary in order to arrive at a sound judgment 
respecting the whole enterprise. 

Africa is a land of deserts. The rivers are comparatively 
few, although recent explorations have shown the amount of 
water in the continent to be much greater than had previously 
been supposed. In many instances the smaller rivers and lakes 
present only dry water-courses in certain seasons of the year, 
and even some of the larger streams approach nearly to the 
same condition. Lake Tsad itself is sometimes nearly dry. 
Floods are prevalent, even in the desert, in the rainy season. 
The importance of such floods is very great. There may be 
inconvenience, and in the time of evaporation there may be 
disease, but on their subsidence vegetation is abundant and 
beautiful. The essential service of the Nile inundations to 
Egypt need not be more than referred to. 

The waters of Africa generally flow into the Atlantic and 
its bra.nch, the Mediterranean, there being no extensive connec- 
tion between any river system and the Indian Ocean. 

Historically, the Nile is the oldest of the rivers of Africa. 
Without it the most ancient civilization could not have existed. 
Egypt is dependent upon it, and Egypt comes before us with 
an advanced civilization, hieroglyphed on her monuments, as 
having existed in such a condition thirty-five centuries before 
the Christian era. Without admitting or rejecting claims 



12 TOPOORAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 

whose evidence we can only partly understand, the antiquity 
of the land of the Pharaohs is not to be disputed ; neither is 
its knowledge of many arts, nor 3^et its dependence upon this 
remarkable stream. But, even now, although we seem to 
come near to the solution of the mystery, and although several 
have laid claim to a veritable discovery, the origin of the river 
is unrevealed to this day. The three principal tributaries from 
the east have each in succession claimed the distinction of 
being the main stream. The Atbara, called by the Abyssinians 
Takkazie, the last of the tributaries of the Nile before its con- 
fluence with the sea, was considered in early Christian ages as 
the head of the Nile. It rises in the Abyssinian provinces of 
Lasta and Samen, amidst mountains attaining the height of fif- 
teen thousand feet. From the same mountains issues the 
Abai, formerly designated the Astapus, which becomes the 
Bahr-el-Azrek, or " Blue River," at Khartoom. The Abyssini- 
ans still look upon the Abai as the Gihon of Genesis, as did 
also the Portuguese Jesuits of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries. Pedro Paez vi^ted its source in the peninsula of 
Godjam, a hundred and nfty years before the time of Bruce, 
and described what he saw. Above the junction of the Asta- 
pus with the Bahr-el-Abyad, or " White Piver," the ancients 
seem to have known nothing of the course of the Nile before 
the time of Ptolemy, except that it came from the west. Of 
more recent explorations in the region of the Nile there will 
be occasion to give particulars elsewhere. But here it may be 
remarked that three expeditions were sent up the course of the 
river between 1835 and 1841 by Mohammed AIL From these 
many particulars were learned. Beyond Sobat, the stream 
was found to be upwards of one thousand feet broad, the 
sources being supposably three or four hundred miles beyond. 
Later efforts towards discovery have more than confirmed the 
supposition. The length of the Nile is certainly, from its 
mouth to its source, not less than three thousand four hundred 
miles, and the stream drains aa area of at least two million 
English square miles. 

The Piver Senegal is upwards of eleven hundred miles in 
length, and has its sources in the same elevated tract of land 
as those of the Kawara. The Gambia and Pio Grande, south 
of the Piver Senegal, are also considerable streams. The 
Kawara, commonly but erroneously called Niger, is next to the 
Nile the largest of African Pivers, unless we also except the 
Congo, which is not fully explored. Even now the sources of 
it are not certainly defined. It appears to be the same as the 



TOPOGRAPHICAL AKD OEWEUAL, 13 

Amner, which is said to rise in a lofty group of mountains to 
the east of Liberia. As far as Timbuctoo it is called the Jolibaj 
and its course is there Avell known ; but from that point to 
Yaouri considerable obscurity hangs over it. Thence down to 
its mouth it was first traced by Lander. It is generally tliere 
called Kawara, although it has several names in the different 
languages of the tribes which live upon its banks. Y/e know 
but little respecting the tributaries of the Kawara. The 
Tchadda is the most important of them, and it rivals the 
Kawara itself in magnitude at the confluence. It reaches far 
into the heart of Inner Africa. It was explored by Dr. Barth 
in its upper course, where it flows through tlie kingdom of 
Adamaua. Even there it is half a mile broad, and ten feet 
deep, and is called Benu6. The length of the Kawara is about 
three thousand miles, and it drains an area of one million five 
hundred thousand square miles. 

To the south of the equator, the west coast receives many 
large rivers, some of which are even as yet but little known. 
Of these maybe enumerated the Za,jre, or Congo; the Coanza; 
the Nourse, or Cunene ; and the Swakop, explored by Mr. Gal- 
ton. The Orange Kiver is about one thousand miles in length. 
Its head streams are the Ki Gariep, or Yaal Kiver, and the Ku 
Gariep, which unites in its own stream the Caledon and Cra- 
dock rivers. The Orange Kiver drains an area of about three 
hundred and fifty thousand English square miles. Beyond 
the southern extremity of Africa, and advancing along the 
eastern coast, there is the Limpopo, which is a very considera- 
ble stream. The Zambesi is the largest river of the eastern 
coast. Livingstone and his companions have thrown much 
light upon its sources and its character, and their information 
will come before us farther on. 

The Lake country is also described in the details of travel 
furnished by individual explorers, and therefore need not here 
be specially characterized. 

Africa lies almost entirely in the torrid zone, and is, there- 
fore, the hottest country which is known to us. The highest 
temperature is to the north of the equator. In Nubia and 
Upper Egypt eggs may be roasted in the sand. Along the 
Mediterranean, the infinence of the sea makes it more temper- 
ate. The country is more elevated to the south of the Great 
Desert, and is cooler, some parts near the equator reaching the 
altitude of perpetual snow. But there is no regular snow-fall 
even in the most southern or northern regions. In Northern 
Africa the radiation is very great ; the soil of the Sahara rap- 



14 TOPOOBAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 



'^ 



idly absorbs the snn's rays, but during the night it loses its 
heat so quickly that ice is known to have been formed. The 
influence of the regular winds is not much felt in this conti- 
nent, unless it be the monsoons of the Indian Ocean. The 
monsoons extend to about a third portion of the eastern shores 
only, but they considerably affect the whole of the African 
countries. Hurricanes sometimes occur at the south-eastern 
extremity, and but rarely in other parts. The north is exposed 
to hot winds and storms from the Sahara, these being called 
the Khamsin in Egypt ; the Sirocco, in the Mediterranean ; 
and the Harmattan, in the western regions. These winds are 
characterized by extreme heat and dryness ; they lift the sand 
and till the air with dust, greatly increasing evaporation, and 
f requeptly proving fatal to the vegetable and animal life of the 
regions over which they pass. 

On the whole, the supply of rain is very scanty. The 
Sahara and Kalahari deserts are almost rainless. The clear- 
ness of the atmosphere exceeds everything of the kind which 
is known in other parts o£ the world. European astronomers, 
visiting these latitudes, look with astonishment on the noctur- 
nal splendor of the heavens — some of the planets shining 
with great brilliance, and occasioning deep and well-defined 
shadows. In the regions which lie between the Kawara and 
the Senegal, copious rains come with the south-east trade- 
winds, so that at Sierra Leone as much as three hundred and 
thirteen inches have been known to fall in the course of a year. 
But the largest supply of rain seems to be brought to Africa 
by the summer monsoon on the east coast. This monsoon 
lasts from April to October, extending over the Indian Ocean 
in a half-circle from south-east to nortli-east by west. These 
winds bring such falls of rain as drench the extensive plains 
and rising grounds of the east horn of Africa. They are 
broken, and their influence diminished by the great Abyssinian 
table-lands. No rain falls in these regions when the monsoon 
comes from the Asiatic continent. The south-east monsoon 
extends northwards as far as Lake Tsad and Kordofan, and 
even to tlie latitude of 22°. Its influence begins to be felt in 
May, or a month later than on the coast. This is a clear proof 
that there is no connected equatorial range of high mountains 
existing in Central Africa, such as was supposed by early 
geographers when they spoke of the " Mountains of the Moon." 
To the east, where high mountains are known to exist, the 
same rain-bearing wind is so much interrupted by them that it 
reaches the northern portions of Abyssinia a month later than 



TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 15 

Lake Tsad and Kordofan. The upper basin of the W\\q being 
in all likelihood not far from the coast, that stream receives its 
supplies of water with the beginning of the monsoon, and con- 
tinues to rise till September. 

The vegetation of Africa presents many peculiarities, A 
traveller passing from the south of Europe sees from Europe 
to Tangier but little that is different from what lie has left be- 
hind him. He might suppose himself still in Spain or France. 
There are groves of oranges and olives, wide plains covered 
with wheat and barley, thick woods of evergreen oaks, cork- 
trees, and sea-pines. These, intermixed with cypresses, myr- 
tles, arbutus, and fragrant tree-heaths, form the chief features 
of the landscape. The plains are covered with the gum cistus, 
and the hills and rocks with rock-roses, palmetto-trees, and the 
wild caper. In the eai'ly months of the year, the climate being 
like that of our spring, the meadows are green with grass, and 
bright with innumerable flowers, and the gardens are embel- 
lished with the blossoms of the almond, the apricot, and the 
peach. Even in the summer there are still a few flowers along 
the banks of the rivers^ but in the intense heat of most parts all 
floral beauty is burnt up. 

In the Barbary States, the principal cultivation in grain con- 
sists of a kind of wheat, barley, maize, Caffre-corn {Holcus sorg- 
Tiurri\ and rice. Tobacco, olives, and figs thrive luxuriantly, as 
also do pomegranates, grapes, jujubes, and melons. There are 
also grown the white mulberry for silk-worms, indigo, cotton, 
sugar-cane, and most of the culinary vegetables of Europe. In 
the mountainous country, south of the Barbary States, in the 
chain of the Atlas, is grown that peculiar timber {Thtija articu- 
lata), called the sandrach-tree, which is almost imperishable, 
and from which the ceilings of mosques are exclusively con- 
structed. It is supposed to be the shittim-wood of Scripture. 

Passing the chain of the Atlas, the scene soon becomes dif- 
ferent. There are now few trees, on account of tlie dryness of 
the climate. But here, wh.ere rain seldom falls, and where the 
heat of the winds is scarcely supportable even by the natives 
themselves, the palm, providentially, forms a grateful shade 
which is impervious to the rays of the sun, and beneath which 
flourish the orange, the lemon, the pomegranate, and the vine — 
all of which, although reared in constant shade, acquire a pe- 
culiar richness of flavor. 

The vegetation of Egypt is intermediate and partakes of the 
character of both of these last-named features. In the parts 
watered by the Nile there is.a rich produce of grain crops, of 



16 TOPOORAPEICAL AND GENEBAL. 

various kinds ; but in the more soutliern and drier districts, 
nothing but stunted and niiserable-lookii g bushes are left to 
contend with the accnmnlating sand for the possession of tlie 
soih In the richer parts of the country there are acacias which 
yield gum arabic, large tamarisk-trees, the senna plant, with 
cotton, coffee, indigo, and tobacco. 

The deserts in the interior of the continent are generally nn- 
occiipied by any plants, except such as are of the most stunted 
character. One of the most remarkable is a grass called Ka- 
sheia {Pennisetum dichotonvum)^ which wholly covers immense 
districts, and which is a great annoyance to travellers on account 
of its prickly involucrum ; another is the agoul {Alhagi mau- 
rosum) which furnishes a likeable food for the camel. In the 
equatorial parts of Africa all European trees disappear, and 
even the date is seldom to be seen. The flora partakes largely 
of the character of the plants of India, but there are peculiari- 
ties which belong to the African loc-alities. There are great 
masses of the baobab, the fruit of which affords a grateful 
drink to the natives, and immense cotton-trees, which project 
at the base into great buttresses ; there are shrubs in consider- 
able varietj^, rich verdure, groups of oil palms, sago palms, and 
others of the same tribe, reaching down to the water's edge. 
In the thickets many varieties of climbers twine among the 
branches of the trees, which they adorn with flowers of white, 
scarlet, and orange. Pine-apples abound in the woods in some 
places, and have established themselves as completely as in their 
native soil in the tropical parts of America. 

In the tropical regions of Africa, there are no waving fields 
of corn ; the vine is unknown ; flgs are worthless, except in a 
few localities ; only the orange and the lime remain. Sorg- 
hum, manioc, the cavassa, the yam, the guinea-pea, and the 
ground-nut supply their place. Here and there are to be found 
various kinds of apples and plums ; but the heat is so intense 
that all tree fruit is diminished in size and nearly destitute of 
succulence and flavor. 

Approaching the southern point of the continent, a wilder- 
ness of bare sand occupies the centre of the country. In the 
karoos of the Cape Colony are to be found fleshy, leafless 
tribes of stapelias, mesembryanthemuras, euphorbias, crassulas, 
and aloes, with other plants, which hold the soil by a single 
wiry root, and feed principally upon the dews of heaven. 
Among these grow mail}^ varieties of heath. The hills ancj 
rocks are covered with a remarkable tribe of plants called Cy- 
cadacese, intermediate, so to speak, between ferns and palms; 



TOPOOBAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 17 

and after the rains, the whole country teems with the blossoms 
of the ixia, the gladiolus, the disa, the satjrinm, and the oxalis. 
At Cape Town our American aloe has been introduced, which, 
with its spiny leaves of six feet in length, forms impenetrable 
hedges, more resembling chevaux-de-frise than any living va- 
riety. TJie oaks and the pines of Europe have also found here 
a congenial climate. The islands partake more or less of the 
vegetation of the continent, modified chiefly on the west side 
by the cooling breeze of the Atlantic, and on the east by the 
wide expanse of the Indian and Southern Oceans. In these 
parts there is usually an entire absence of African sterility, in 
consequence of their insular position. From their luxuriant 
vegetation we may judge wdiat that of Africa would be if 
either nature or human skill could succeed in conducting riv- 
ers and streams into the regions of barrenness and drought. 

In Africa, there is great abundance of large quadrupeds of 
many kinds, both of those which belong also to other continents, 
and of those which are peculiar to itself — such as the giraffe, 
the hippopotamus, the zebra, the quacha, the gnu, and some 
other species of the antelope tribe, of which there are about 
twentv varieties, and the two-horned rhinoceros, of which there 
are at least two varieties. Of the smaller quadrupeds there are 
also many species unknown elsewhere. The giraffe is found in 
all the dry regions of Africa, between the sources of the Sene- 
gal and Dongola. It has seldom been seen in the richer soil 
of Soudan. In its native country it browses on trees, but when 
domesticated it is not fastidious, but will eat any kind of vege- 
table food. It is an inoffensive animal. 

The hippopotamus is a most peculiar and unwieldy animal 
confined to Africa. It abounds in all the large rivers. It is 
amphibious, but derives its chief sustenance from the land, 
while it lives mostly in the water. It feeds on shrubs, and 
reeds, and the grassy produce of the banks and shallows of riv- 
ers. In the land-track of the hippopotamus, which is like the 
ruts of two wagon-wheels, the Africans make a deep pit, care- 
fully covered over, and if he fall into the trap, he is so awk- 
ward that he cannot get out. The average weight of this 
enormous animal is about three or four thousand pounds. 

The zebra is a member of the asinine tribe, and is striped in 
every part, from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail. Its 
head is large, its ears long, and it is destitute of beauty in gen- 
eral. It is difficult to tame, and very vicious. The quacha is 
much like the zebra, but is less^ striped, more robust, better- 
shaped, and not difiicult to domesticate. 
2 



18 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 

Tlie gnu is of the antelope genus. It partakes in its form of 
the horse, the stag, and the antelope : the shoulders, body, 
thighs, and mane being equine; the head bovine; the tail 
partly of the one and partly of the other, exactly resembling 
that of the quacha ; the legs and feet slender and elegant like 
those of the stag; and finall}' , it has the subocular sinus, which 
is supposed to be the distinguishing characteristic of the ante- 
lope tribe. It is so fierce and full of gambols, that the Dutch 
boors of the Cape have named it wilde beest. It is strong, swift, 
keen-scented, and quick-sighted. Its motions are free, varied, 
and elegant. Herds of them are to be met with in the plains 
bordering on the Orange Kiver. 

The two-horned rhinoceros of Africa is different from that 
of India. The skin is smooth compared with the folds so re- 
markable in the Indian species, which is covered as with a 
coat of mail. The eyes are low in the head, almost at the root 
of the nose, and close under the upper horn, and so small, that 
one is apt to suppose them of little use to so enormous an ani- 
mal ; but as they are placed in a socket which is considerably 
projected, they have a wide range, and are capable of an im- 
mense sweep round the horizon. The variety found near the 
mouth of the Orange River is called the white rhinoceros, and 
is larger than the other. Another variety was found at a con- 
siderable distance by Campbell, with the larger horn almost 
straight, and longer, while the other liorn w^as smaller in pro- 
portion. This immense animal is found in all the woods of 
Africa, from Soudan to the Cape of Good Hope. 

Of the eland, Africa contains moi-e species than are to be 
found in all the rest of the world. Elands are of many sizes. 
The finest and best developed are most beautiful creatures. 
The male has been known to measure ten feet and a half in 
length, by six feet and a half in height. They are mild of 
temper, and easily hunted down. 

The springbok is one of the most gracefully elegant and 
most numerous of all the species of antelopes to be found in 
South Africa. Sometimes springboks assemble in herds of 
thousands, especially at the times of their migrating to the 
north, and also at the season of their return. It leaps in run- 
ning to a distance of from fifteen to five-and-twenty feet — hence 
its name. Many other varieties of antelopes are to be found 
in different parts of Africa. Antelopes follow their leader like 
sheep. The}^ are therefore easily driven towards some small 
opening, and as the whole herd presses onwards, following the 
leader, great havoc is made among them by hunters. 



TOPOGRAPHIUAL AND GENERAL, 19 

The elephant is found in all the forests. Gigantic as it is, it 
is a harmless animal. It is usually taken in pits with stakes at 
the bottom, or by burning the grass of the steppes. 

The buffe,lo is probably the most fierce and powerful of the 
whole bovine tribe. Its height is about that of a common- 
sized ox, but it is nearlj^ twice the latter's bulk. Its horns at 
the base are about twelve *or thirteen inches across, separated 
by a very narrow space, which fills up with age, and gives the 
animal a solid forehead of horn, as hard as iron or rock. A 
conflict between the buffalo and the lion is terrific, and it is 
only when the lion can by stratagem surprise him that the buf- 
falo is conquered. 

The African lion is the noblest animal of his i-ace. None of 
the Asiatic lions can compare with him in size, strength, or 
beauty. The habits of the lion are those of the feline tribe. 
He never attacks openly unless he is hungry. He is roused 
from sleep only by hunger. He then watclies in ambush, till 
an opportunity occurs for pouncing on his prey. If nothing 
present itself, he then walks out, and finding a flock of ante- 
lopes, or sheep, selects his , victim. In the case of sheep 
under the care of a man, he invariably prefers the man to the 
sheep. 

The tiger is to be found in several varieties, less powerful, 
however, than that of Bengal. Leopards are numerous and 
very fierce. There are wolves, jackals, wild-cats, and other 
smaller animals w^hich live predatory lives, and are ferocious 
and troublesome. Baboons and monkeys of many sizes abound 
in the woods of the tropical regions. 

There are many lizards in all the sandy deserts, and th^re 
are two or three species of chameleon. The crocodile or alliga- 
tor is found in all the larger rivei*s. In such a climate it is to 
be expected that various insects and reptiles should abound : 
scorpions, scolopendms, enormous spiders, snakes, and other 
venomous creatures. Termites, or white ants, are very numer- 
ous. They destroy everything in the shape of wood, and march 
together in such swarms, that the devastation they leave behind 
them is appalling. Locusts are still more destructive. An 
army of locusts passing over a country, leaves it as bare as if 
it had been swept with a broom. 

In Africa there is a vast variety of birds, from the large os- 
trich down to the little certhia, or creeper. There are many 
specimens of the vulture, the secretary bird, eagles, kites, crows, 

fuinea-fowls, bustards, grouse, partridges, quails, and swallows, 
lie crane, the flamingo, the pelican, and many varieties of 



20 TOFOORAPHIGAL AND GENEBAL. 

water-fowl frequent the rivers and lakes. Parrots and parra 
quets abound in many parts. 

Fish in great variety are to be found in most of the rivers as 
well as on the coast. On the coast, sharks, as well as both 
black and spermaceti whales, are numerous. 

Of the three hundred mammals of different species which are 
known to be inhabitants of Africa, more than two hundred are 
peculiar to that continent and to Madagascar. Of these a great 
majority are to be found only to the south of the Great Desert. 

From the Mediterranean to about lat. 20° N., the inhabitants 
of Africa are of various races. The Berbers of the region of 
the Atlas, the Tuaricks and Tibbus of the Sahara, and the 
Copts of Egypt, are all descendants of the original population, 
the Moors being of mixed descent. The Ethiopic, or negro, 
race are found between lat. 20° N. and the Cape Colony, there 
being, however, many varieties of physiognomy among those 
who bear the general name. In the Cape Colony itself, and in 
the parts surrounding it, the home of the Hottentots is found. 

The Copts are descended from the ancient Egyptians. Their 
numfeer is not more than one hundred and fifty thousand, and 
about ten thousand of them reside about Cairo. They are 
darker than Arabs, their cheek-bones being high, their beards 
thin, and their hair woolly. Their religion is a corrupt form of 
Christianity. They are extremely bigoted. Their morality is 
of a low standard. They are sullen, and false, and avaricious, 
and drink to excess. The Coptic may now be considered a 
dead language, the Arabic having come to occupy its place. 

Above Egypt there are two tribes, resembling each other in 
general physical development, yet speaking different tongues. 
-Probably one is aboriginal or native ; the other foreign. 
Prichard terms them Eastern jSTubians — or Nubians of the Red 
Sea, and Nubians of the Nile — or Berberines. These tribes 
are of a red-brown complexion, and their hair is thick and 
frizzly. The Eastern Nubians are tribes of wandering people 
who inhabit the country lying between the Nile and the Ped 
Sea. The Baraba, or Berberines, inhabit the valley of that 
name from the southern limit of Egypt to Senaar. They live 
on the banks of the Nile, and being honest and industrious, 
wherever there is available soil they utilize it, planting trees, 
sowing grain such as durra, and setting up wheels for irriga- 
tion. 

The Tibbus are spread over the eastern parts of the Sahara, 
as far as Fezzan and Lake Tsad. They occupy the ground on 
which the ancient Lybians formerly lived. Some of them are 



TOFOGRAPHIOAL AND QENEMAL, 21 

black, others copper-colored. They are well made, but slim. 
Their liair is not woolly, though curled. They are chiefly a 
pastoral people, with many horses, cattle, sheep, and goats — 
camels, however, being their most valuable possessions. They 
build their villages in squares. Their dwellings are of mats, 
and are clean and neat. Formerly they carried on a consider- 
able traffic in slaves between Soudan, Fezzan, and Tripoli, 
npppily, this description of trade has of late years been much 
int<^rrupted. 

All that is not Arabic in the kingdom of Morocco, all that 
is not Arabic in the French provinces of Algeria, an-d all that 
is not Arabic in Tunis, Tripoli, and Fezzan, is JBerber. The 
language, also, of the whole country between Tripoli and 
Egypt is Berber; the extinct language of the Canary Isles 
was Berber ; and the language of the Sahara is Berber. The 
Berber languages are, in their present use, inland tongues — the 
Arabic, as a rule, is the language for the coast, from the Delta 
of the Nile to the Straits of Gibraltar, and from the Straits of 
Gibraltar to the mouth of the Senegal. The Berbers are a 
nation of great antiquity ; and from the earliest times of which 
we have any historical record, they have occupied the same 
territory as now. In the northern parts of the Atlas they are 
called Berbers ; in the southern tracts, Shuluhs ; in the hilly 
country, Kabyles ; in Mount Auress, the Showiah ; and in the 
desert, the Tuarick. All belong to the same natural stock. In 
the Atlas Mountains there are said to be more than twenty 
different tribes, very poor, and perpetually at war with each 
other. The means of living, on the part of many, is the plun- 
dering of those who have anything to seize, and bands are 
formed and excursions made for tliat purpose. They are 
athletic, strong-featured, and hardy. They wear a sort of 
woollen garment, without sleeves, fastened round the waist by a 
belt. 

In the mountains of the northern Atlas, the Shuluhs live in 
houses of stone and mud, covered with slate, and chiefly in 
villages ; but they are occasionally to be found in caves or 
tents, Tbey are huntsmen, yet they cultivate the ground, and 
trade in honey. They are well formed and hardy, their com- 
jjlexion being comparatively light The Kabyles of Algeria 
and Tunis are noted for their industry, not only in tilling the 
groimd, but also in working in mines in the mountains, ob' 
taining lead, iron, and copper. They live in huts spread in 
groups over the sides of the mountains. They are of middle 
stature, and dark-brown color, sometimes nearly black. 



22 TOPOGBAPHICAL AlSfD GENERAL, 

The Tnaricks spread tliemselves, in various tribes, over the 
greater portion of the Sahara. The expedition under Richard- 
son, Barth, and Overweg has greatly increased our knowledge 
of these people ; having traversed a wide extent of the terri- 
tories which the Tuaricks occupy. The following are the 
names and localities of the principal tribes: — 1. Tanelkum, 
located in Fezzan. 2. Azghei'Syinclading, i. Ouraghen, family 
of Shaf6u; ii. Emanghastan, family of Hateetah ; iii. Amana, 
family of Jabour — all located at Ghat. 3. Aheethanaran, the 
tribe of Janet. 4. Hagar (Athagar), pure Ilagars and 
Maghatale. Tbey occupy the tract beeween Ghat, Tuat, and 
Timbuctoo. 5. Sagamaram, located on the route from Aisou to 
Tuat. 6. Kailouees, including the Kailouees proper, the Kal- 
tadak, and the Kalfadai. 7. Kilgris, including the Kilgris 
proper, the Iteesan, and the Ashraf. These and the tribes im- 
mediately before mentioned inhabit the kingdom of Ahir. 
S. Oulimad tribes^ surrounding Timbuctoo in great numbers. 
This, probably identical with the Sorghou, is the largest and 
most powerful tribe, while the Tanelkums are the smallest and 
weakest. The various tribes are very different in character, 
but they are all fine men, tall, straight, and handsome. All 
the cai*avans crossing their territory must pay tribute to them. 
This is one of their means of living. They are abstemious and 
subsist chiefly on coarse brown bread, dates, olives, and water. 
Even in the heated desert, where the thermometer is generally 
from 90° to 120°, they ai*e clothed from head to foot, and 
cover the face up to the eyes with a black or colored handker- 
chief. 

Large portions of the empire of Morocco are inhabited by 
the Moors, who are spread along the whole Mediterranean 
coast. They are a mixed race, grafted upon the ancient Maur- 
itanian stock. They have in course of time incorporated with 
themselves, through intermarriages, much of the blood of the 
Arabs and of the Spaniards. Their language is Arabic. In 
bodily conformation they considerably resemble Europeans. 
They are intellectual, but cruel. Tliey have had many revolu- 
tions among them, and these have been always most sanguinary. 
They have been much given to piracy. In religion, they are 
Mahometan. Generally they are temperate in diet and plain 
in dress ; the rich, however, indulge in many luxuries, and are 
fond of display. There are wandering tribes which belong to 
them ; but very many, the mass, settle themselves as mer- 
cliants, mechanics, and farmers. 

The Arabs constitute no small portion of the population of 



TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 23 

Northern and Central Africa. Two invasions of Africa have 
been made by the Arabs, and both have left many marked 
traces behind them, inasmuch as they took possession of the 
territory v^hich they conquered, and gradually mixed up witli 
themselves such of the aboriginal inhabitants as remained. 
Egypt is now an entirely Arabic country. Several tribes, un- 
mixed and purely Arabic, are to be found in Nubia and Egypt, 
and the provinces of Kordofan, Darfoor, Waday, and Bornu. 
Others occupy the deserts of Libya and the Sahara, and the 
States of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers, many of them leading 
a wandering life like the Kabyles. In many places they for- 
mally rule ovei* the districts of which they have made them- 
selves masters. On the coast of Zanzibar there is an Arabic 
ro^^al dynasty. Some of the smaller islands adjacent to Mad- 
agascar are inhabited by Arabs, and traces of them are to be 
found in Madagascar itself. The African Arabs are not all 
alike in features or color, inasmuch as some have intermixed 
with natives, while others have remained distinct. 

Jews are to be found in the larger towns of the north as 
merchants, brokers, and traders of varimis descriptions, and the 
commerce with Europe is largely carried on by them. 

Many Turks have settled in the north of Africa, and their 
numbers are on the increase. 

The Abyssinians are of Ethiopic origin. Abyssinia was, in 
former times, a powerful kingdom ; but the Galla have con- 
quered the southern part of it, and there being incessant wars 
among the people themselves, the empire as such has become a 
mere shadow, and, since the recent expedition of the English 
army, is even scarcely so much. The territory of Abyssinia 
extends from the upper course of the Blue Kiver north to 
the Ked Sea. There are several princes who were ostensibly 
vassals to the empire, who even formerly exercised unlimited 
power, and now more markedly than ever these rulers have 
undisputed sway in their several territories. The Christian 
religion, much corrupted, is professed by most of the people. 
It was introduced at an early period, but has been greatly 
changed. European missionaries have exposed themselves to 
many dangers, and labored with commendable zeal, for the 
sake of these people ; but have been repeatedly driven from 
their posts. The inhabitants live in huts, a collection of which 
is called a town. Professing Christians are not allowed to 
keep slaves, though they are permitted to trade in them. 

The Ethiopic race comprehends by far the greater number 
of the African nations, extending over the whole of Middle 



24 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND OENEBAL. 

and South xVf rica. All are not negroes, Iiowever ; the Negro^ 
tlio Galla, the Somali, and the Kaifre are all different branches 
of the same stock. The principal Negro nations are established 
around the head waters of the Kawara, where they have many 
tribes and kingdoms, larger or smaller, under separate and inde- 
pendent chiefs. Tiiey are black, and their hair woolly. The 
Wolofs, or Yolofs, are the handsomest, yet the blackest, of 
all Negroes. They live between the Senegal and the Gambia, 
on^the Atlantic coast. The Foulahs or Fellattahs are to be 
found in the central parts of Soudan, by the course of the 
Kawara, west to the Senegal, and east till beyond Lake Tsad. 
They are generally black, though some of them are as light as 
gypsies. They are industrious, cleanly, and, in their religion, 
usually Mahometan. There are several other sections of the 
Negro race, but they are less distinct and less numerous: the 
Congo, the Abunda, and the Bengnela. These are to be found 
chieliy in South Guinea. The whole Negro race is divided and 
separated into manifold tribes, dialects, and social castes. 

The Gallas, another branch of the Ethiopic race, occupy an 
immense territory in Eastern Africa, from Abyssinia as far as 
the inland portions of the Portuguese possessions in Mozam- 
bique, to the south of the equator. They are large and 
strong; their color is black, some of their women being of 
lighter color. 

The Somali are widely scattered on the uplands, and also 
nearer to tlie coast of the Indian Ocean, from Cape Jerdaffun 
southward for a considerable distance. They are generally 
mild and peaceful among themselves. Their occupations are 
pastoral. 

The Kaffres occupy a great portion of South Africa. They 
are generally black, but some individuals are remarkably fair ; 
all are woolly-haired. They are a strong, muscular people, ac- 
tive in their home industries, such as hunting and agriculture, 
but given also to warfare and plunder. The Eastern Kaffres, 
such as the Amakosah and Amazulah, are best known to us by 
means of their frequent predatory incursions into the Cape 
Colonj^. The Bechuana tribes are Kaffres; but these are less 
warlike, and more devoted to their own domestic husbandries 
and other affairs. All Kaffres keep herds of cattle, and to 
some extent cultivate fields and gardens; but the tribes last 
named, in many instances, live in towns, and are in every way 
superior to most of the other sections of the race. There are 
many tribes of them, and they do not always keep the peace 
towards each other. 



TOPOQBAPHIGAL AND GENERAL, 25 

The Hottentots diifer widely from all the other African 
races. In bodily conformation they are thought to resemble 
the Chinese or Malays. The women have this remarkable pe- 
culiarity, that they are possessed of natural ''bustJes," which 
sometimes grow to an enormous size. What were the circum- 
stances which originally led to the hemming in of these poor 
people into the narrow space which they occupy, history does 
not tell, and conjecture seems to be vain. They are not with- 
out intellect, and are of cheerful temperament. They h^^e 
been much oppressed at various times since their connection 
with Europeans, and especially by the Portuguese and the 
Dutch. The English have afforded them protection. Mora- 
vian missionaries, and not without success, have sought to raise 
them out of their degradation. Their home now, wherever 
they originally came from, is principally in the region about 
Table Bay. But in the very centre of South Africa there is 
a nation of dwarfish appearance, called Bushmen, possessing 
many cattle, and apparently belonging to the Hottentot 
race. 

The island of Madagascar, distinctly belonging to Africa, is 
inhabited by a race originally Malay, but now possessing a 
mixture of i^egro and Arab blood. They are a strong and ac- 
tive people. They were heathen ; but nothing has occurred in 
the history of Christian missions more noteworthy than, first, 
the appalling cruelty and extent of the persecutions of the 
Christians which have been endured among them, and after- 
wards, the striking success which has followed. There are now 
very many thousands of Christians instructed by a large staff 
of missionaries from Europe, as well as by a numerous native 
ministr}^ 

Only an approximate guess can be made respecting the num- 
ber of the population of such a territory as Africa, there being, 
even now, so much of it unexplored. But, according to the 
most recent calculations, it has been reasonably supposed that 
it cannot be less than one hundred and twenty millions. 

The people generally live in villages or towns, and have 
strong attachments to their homes. Even the wandering tribes 
have their favorite dingles and valleys to which they most fre- 
quently resort. 

There is but little skill in their agriculture. In well- watered 
districts the soil is abundantly fertile, and, personal wants being 
few, the bounty of nature is largely drawn upon. 

The different tribes are frequently at war with each other. 
Sometimes this is for revenge of past injuries or conquests, the 



26 TOPOORAPEIOAL AND GENERAL. 

former being real or supposed ; sometimes for territory ; but 
more frequently in order to the capture of slaves. This vile 
traffic is the greatest of all the evils which have afflicted 
Africa. 

As to reliojion, generally speaking, and alhiding to the whole 
population, mere is none. A mongrel Christianity is professed, 
as we have already said, in Ab^^ssinia ; Mahometanism obtains 
in the northern countries ; but the African races, as a rule, are 
abandoned to the weakest of mere superstitions. Their minds 
are not so difficult of access, however, as are those of nations 
which have elaborate systems of mythology and idoiatr}^ ; and 
in most parts which liave been occupied by missionaries, the 
success of their labors has been very considerable. 

As to the political and territorial divisions of Africa, if such 
a classification may be employed : 

The country included under the general name of Barbary 
extends from the borders of Egypt on the east, to the Atlantic 
on the west; being bounded by the Mediterranean on the 
north, and the Sahara on the south. It comprises the States of 
Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Morocco has an area of 
about one hundred and seventy thousand geographical square 
miles, and eight million five hundred thousand inhabitants. 
Algeria closely answers to the ancient Numidia. The area is 
estimated at one hundred thousand square miles, and the pop- 
ulation at three millions. Tunis is the smallest of these states. 
It contains forty thousand square miles, and the population is 
between two and three millions. The people are chiefly Moors 
and Arabs. The principal town is Tunis. Tripoli is a Turk- 
ish province, extending from Tunis to Egypt, along the shores 
of the Mediterranean. Its extent is two hundred thousand 
square miles, and the population one million five hundred 
thousand. 

Egypt occupies the north-eastern corner of Africa. It com- 
prises about one hundred thousand square miles, and has two 
million inhabitants of various races, the most numerous being 
Egyptians of Arab descent. It is nominally a Turkish pashalic ; 
but while the Saltan now and then asserts his superiority, tlie 
Viceroy, or Khedive, is virtually an independent ruler. Nubia 
extends along the Red Sea, comprising the middle course of 
the Nile, with a population of one million. Kliartoom, or 
Khartoum, is the capital. 

Kordofan lies on the western side of Nubia, and is in extent 
about thirty thousand square miles. The population consists 
chiefly of negroes. The country in general is fiat, but there are 



TOPOGRAPHIOAL AND GENERAL. 27 

lofty hills, some attaining to three thousand feet. The general 
elevation of the country is two thousand feet. Nubia and Kor- 
dofan are under the rule of the Khedive. 

The boundaries of Abj'ssinia are not easily defined. It may 
be said to extend from about 9° to 16° nortli lat., and from 35° 
to 4-1° east long., having an area of one hundred and fifty 
thousand square miles, with, probably, four millions of inhab- 
itants. 

The Sahara extends from the Atlantic on the west, tothe 
Nilotic countries on the east ; and from the Barbary States on 
the north, to the basins of the rivers Senegal and Kawara, and 
Lake Tsad on the south. The area is about two million square 
miles, or upwards of one half of all Europe.' The population 
is thin. The general aspect of the Sahara has already been in- 
dicated. It is excessively liot by day, and sometimes very cold 
at night. Kain is infrequent. For nine months of the year the 
wind is from the east. When a storm arises, immense quanti- 
ties of loose sand are carried before it, and a thick deposit is 
left to cover the soil. Of course vegetable and animal life ex- 
ist but sparingly in oases where valleys or springs occur. The 
habitable parts of the Sahara are occupied by three different 
nations : the Moors and Arabs in the extreme western portion ; 
the Tuaricks in the middle part ; and in the east a race resem- 
bling Negroes. The trade of the Sahara is in gold, slaves, ivory, 
iron, and salt. 

Western Africa comprises the West Coast from the borders 
of the Sahara, in about lat. 17° north, to the Nourse River in 
about the same latitude south. Senegambia is the country of 
the Senegal and Gambia. The vegetation is most luxuriant 
and vigorous. The baobab (monkey bread-tree), the most enor- 
mous tree in the world, is characteristic of Senegambia. It is 
not so high as some other trees ; but in circumference it is fre- 
quently found to be sixty or seventy-five feet, and in some in- 
stances has been known to measure one hundred and twelve 
feet. The native population consists of Negroes of various na- 
tions. There are European settlements of the French on the 
Senegal ; of the British on the Gambia ; and of the Portu- 
guese, in the manner of small factories, at various points. The 
commerce is chiefly in gum, beeswax, ivory, bark, and hides. 

The West Coast of Africa, from Senegambia to the Nourse 
Eiver, is commonly called the Guinea Coast. The coast is low, 
in many places being a dead level for thirty or fifty miles in- 
land. There are numerous rivers, some of w^hich can be traced 
as far as Inner Africa. The Cameroon Mountains are an ex- 



28 TOPOOBAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 

ception to the general flatness of the country. The climate is 
very dangerous to European life. Vegetation is exceedingly 
luxuriant and varied. There is a species of palm-tree from the 
seed or nut of which is extracted the palm oil so well known, 
several thousand tons of which are annually sent to England. 

The British colony of Sierra Leone extends from Rokelle 
River in the north, to Kater River in the south, and reaches 
about twenty miles inland. The Malaghetta or Grain Coast ex- 
tends from Sierra Leone to Cape Palmas. It is sometimes 
styled the Windy or Windward Coast. The Republic of Libe- 
ria occupies a considerable extent of this country, and among 
the population are many liberated slaves, freed in former times 
in the United States. The Ivory Coast extends from Cape Palmas 
to Cape Three Points, and obtained its name from the quantity 
of ivory supplied by the numerous elephants to be found there. 
The Gold Coast stretches from Cape Three Points to the River 
Yolta, and has been long frequented for gold-dust and other 
products. The Slave Coast extends from the River Yolta 
to the Calabar River, and was formerly the scene of an 
iixnuense slave traffic. The kingdoms of Ashanti, Dahomey, 
and others, occupy the interior country of the Guinea Coast. 
The coast from Old Calabar River to the Portuguese posses- 
sions is inhabited by various tribes. Duke's Town, on the for- 
mer river, is a large town of thirty thousand to forty thousand 
inhabitants. Loango extends from the equator to the Zaire, or 
Congo, River. Congo extends south of the Zaire, and is very 
fertile, with veins of copper and iron. Angola includes the two 
districts of Angola proper and Benguela. Here the Portuguese 
settlements reach farther inland than in the preceding districts, 
namely, two hundred miles. The population of these settle- 
ments is about four hundred thousand, including about two 
thousand Europeans. The Capital, St. Paolo de Loando, has 
one thousand six hundred European and four thousand native 
inhabitants. There is a fine harbor. 

The coast from Benguela to- the Cape Colony is little visited 
or known. It is barren and desolate, with but few harbors. 
Mr. Galton, in company with the Swedish naturalist Andersson, 
penetrated from Walfisch Ba}^, nearly four hundred miles into 
the interior in the direction of Lake IS^gami, and explored the 
country inhabited by the Oraherero, or Damaras, and other 
tribes. 

South Africa comprises Cape Colony and the adjacent coun- 
tries, and of these it is necessary to speak somewhat more in de- 
tail herCj inasmuch as though comparatively little known, they 



TOPOOBAPHICAL AND OENEBAL. 29 

are ofP the line of the exploring expeditions, outlined in succeed- 
ing pages. Cape Colony extends from the Cape of Good Hope 
to the Orange River in the south, and to the Tugela River in 
the east. Much of this space is unoccupied. The parts whicli 
are inhabited are in possession of the aborigines, with the ex- 
ception of missionary stations. Except at the immediate coast, 
the country consists of highlands, with elevated plains or table- 
lands between the mountains. 

Its area is larger than any European country, but its inhabi- 
tants do not exceed six hundred thousand in number. The 
Cape Colony was originally a Dutch settlement, but became a 
British dependency in 1806. It was long a favorite refuge for 
the IIu2:uenot emio^rants : and althouo-h the French laoo-uaffe 
ceased to be spoken, the names of many of the older families 
bear witness to their descent. Intermarriage with the Dutch 
settlers, and the gradual adoption of their language, led to a 
complete fusion, and the Dutch element in the Cape population 
has been dominant for generations. The people are farmers as 
a rale. 

Five years ago, what was known as British Kaffraria was 
formally annexed to the Cape Colony. This small dependency 
had previously had a government of its own. Here has been 
the seat of successive Kaftre wars. Within this territory rise the 
celebrated Anatola Mountains — a natural stronghold, where 
many British lives have been lost, but which is now traversed 
by roads and harmonized by peaceful and prosperous settle- 
ments. 

To the north of the Orange River, beyond the limits of the 
Cape Colony, there is a country, or rather a series of countries, 
which, with the exception of Natal, is but little known in Eu- 
rope. The whole of these territories may be said to come 
properly under the designation of South-eastern Africa, and to 
travels in these lands special attention is given in subsequent 
pages ; meanwhile a small amount of attention may be directed 
to certain of those parts which have not been the lields of re- 
cent exploration. Following the coast-line, between the Cape 
Colony and Natal, there is a long and narrow strip of country 
Ivins: between the Indian Sea and the Kahlamba rano^e of 
mountains. This tract of country is occupied entirely by na- 
tive tribes, and there are few missionaries or traders among 
them. At the extremity nearest the Cape Colony the tribe of 
the Amagelaka resides, ruled over by the great chief Kreli. 
Beyond are the Amaponda, the people of the late chief Faku, 
who, through all successive Kafire wars and for a period of 



30 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 

fifty years, remained the stauncli and friendly ally of the Brit- 
ish Government. This old chieftain could bring twenty-five 
thousand fighting men into the field, and he vras continually at 
war with one or another of the many tribes in his neighbor- 
hood. He died a few years ago at the age of eighty. Ilis son 
shows the same friendly feeling towards the English. 

Adam Kok, the ruler of Griqualand, and his people are not 
pure Kaffres ; they have attained to a considerable degree of 
civilization, and many of them have come, with their chief, un- 
der Christian infiuences. They formerly occupied a district on 
the northern frontier of the Cape Colony ; and it being deemed 
expedient to incorporate it with the colony, they were offered 
their present abode, and accepted the offer. Their new land 
consists of about two million acres of the finest sheep country 
in South Africa, lying immediately under the Kahlamba Moun- 
tains, and possessing great capabilities for the growth of corn. 
They are a settled community, with missionaries, and churches, 
and schools. 

Griqualand is succeeded by Natal. In 1838 there was a 
great expatriation of Dutch farmers from the Cape Colony, and 
a large number of those self-exiled people settled down in w^hat 
is now JSTatal. The}^ entered the country from the interior, and 
to their eyes and minds, tired of long wanderings in untrodden 
and pathless wildernesses, the fair scene which spread before 
them from the top of the Kahlamba Mountains must have 
seemed like a promised land. But not long did they enjoy 
their independence. The territory was annexed to the Cape 
Colony in 1843, knd these Dutch settlei^ again migrated to tlie 
northward, and founded what is known as the South African, 
or Transvaal, Republic. 

Beyond ]^atal is Zululand. Delagoa Bay is generally re- 
garded as marking the northern limits of this territory. We 
have not heard much respecting this country ; and yet it is 
large, rich, and tempting, and visited every year by large num- 
bers of traders. Zululand is in many respects a modified 
counterpart of Natal. It it a broken and hilly country, very 
beautiful, with an area of about twenty-two thousand 
square miles. It was famous for its herds till pleuro-pneumonia 
devastated South Africa, and even yet many cattle are exported 
from it. The population is rapidly decreasing. 

Beyond Zululand j^re the Portuguese settlements. Yasco da 
Gama's discoveries along this coast of Africa were at once fol- 
lowed up by several ventures of colonization and conquest on 
the part of the Portuguese. Attention was directed to those dis- 



TOPOORAFHICAL AND GENERAL. 31 

tant and mythical shores by the reputed existence of gold in 
great quantities, and more than one expedition was fitted out 
on a gigantic scale for the purpose of searching for, and taking 
possession of, the reputed El Dorado. Most of these enter- 
prises failed. Fever, the lack of food, and the hostility of the 
natives, vi^ere obstacles that were never surmounted, and the 
traditionary Ophir was never reached. But gold was obtained 
by the natives, and on to the present time the}^ have brought it 
from unknown regions, stowed away in quills, as a means of 
barter. In due time the Portuguese found a source of wealth, 
not in gold-mines, but in the slave-trade, which, sanctioned by 
a Papal bull, has become the leading traffic of the East African 
coast. The Portuguese gradually abandoned all attempts at 
colonization. All traces of their settlements cease within a few 
miles of the shore, except where the depopulated lands and 
wasted homes present sad tokens of their presence. The Port- 
uguese domination has been the blight of East Africa. It has 
all but sealed up the coast to everything but the brutality and 
rapacity of the men who have made the name of their coun- 
try a by -word in the seas, and who have prostituted to the 
vilest ends the monopoly which they have enjoyed. The Brit- 
ish have made repeated attempts to open up legitimate trading 
connections with the Portuguese ports, but have failed. Ves- 
sels have been seized, trading parties stopped, property confis- 
cated, and the traders themselves imprisoned or detained at 
these centres of lawlessness. Aroimd these places the natives 
are more demoralized than in any other part of Africa, Euro- 
pean vices being engrafted on the baser passions of heathenism. 
Moral and social obligations are trampled down, and the white 
race, which ought to be the type of a higher and purer form 
of life, is degraded and made hateful in the eyes of the abor- 
igines. Dr. Livingstone bears testimony that while English 
influence on the West Coast had been most successful in putting 
down the slave-trade, in spite of vast expenditure the efi^orts of 
the Imperial Government and its squadron on those eastern 
coasts had been comparatively abortive. There is a Portuguese 
trade on the east coast in ivory, gums, feathers, skins, oil, 
woods, fibre, and even cotton; but the most considerable 
traffic has been in human flesh. This fact obstructs all at 
tempts at civilization as made from the coast. 

Beyond the northern boundary of the Cape Colony and the 
western border of Natal, there lie two republics, chiefly com- 
posed of Boer families, which are of Dutch extraction. The 
territory of these is in the vicinity of the Orange River. The 



32 TOPOGBAPHTCAL AND GENERAL. 

climate of this reg^ion is one of tlie healthiest in South Africa :• 
the country is several thousand feet above the sea-level, it en- 
joys a remarkably clear and keen atmosphere, and there are 
few rivers and but little moist ground to give dampness to the 
air. There are immense herds of game, consisting of elands, 
qnaggas, wildebeests, and other antelopes, which still course 
over these plains, although it is estimated that tliere ai-e thirty- 
seven thousand persons of European origin resident in the 
state. 

The Transvaal Republic is one of tlie largest territorial div- 
isions of South Africa, and covers an area of more than one 
hundred thousand square miles. It spreads over six parallels 
of latitude, runs up considerably v/ithin the southern tropic, 
and is bounded on the north by the Limpopo River, wliicli 
flows into the Indian Ocean, just at its southern boundary. 
There is a wide range of products. The distance from the coast, 
four hundred miles, discourages the cultivation of grain for ex- 
port ; sheep-farming and cattle-breeding are the general means 
of subsistence and wealth. But the farmers of the Transvaal 
are a primitive race, and contented with very small things. 
There are exceptions, but generallj", so long as they have enough 
yearly to barter at Natal for the few commodities which they ab- 
solutely need, their wants are satisfied, and their aspirations have 
rest. They are devoted "conscientiously to the doctrines and 
service of the Dutch Reformed Church. The Republic is gov- 
erned by a president, with an executive council of five members, 
and a Yolksraad, or legislative assembly, consisting of members 
elected by the people, no qualification being required of voters 
except that of manhood. This representative body meets twice 
a year ; the members receive fifteen shillings a day for their 
attendance, and many of them live comfortably^ during the ses- 
sion, domiciled in their wagons on the market-square. The 
Republic does not prosper as a government, but has been drift- 
ing more and more for several years into anarchy and confu- 
sion. The great evil of which complaint has to be made 
against these people is their encouragement of slavery. The 
Kafi"res in these parts are in the main an inoffensive people, 
who would live quietly enough if they were allowed to possess 
their land and cattle in security. But, at particular seasons, 
the young. Boers rush out upon them, killing as many as possi- 
ble, letting the women go, and seizing upon all the children. 
These they " apprentice " to traders and store-keepers, who en- 
ter "the article" in their books as " black ivory," and some- 
times there are as mdny as six thousand thus enslaved in the 



TOPOGRAFEIGAL AND GENERAL. 33 

course of a year. Some of the Boers treat their own slaves 
with kindness, feeding them and clothing them, and flogging 
them for their good, as they may be supposed to requu*e ; but 
kindness is the exception, and severity the rule. 

East Africa extends from Natal northwards to the Ked Sea, 
and includes Sofala, Mozambique, Zanzibar, and the Somali 
country. But little is known of it beyond the shores. The 
Sofala Coast extends from Delagoa Bay to the Zambesi E-iver. 
It is flat, sandy, and marshy, gradually ascending towards the 
interior. There are many rivers. Where there is soil it is 
rich and fertile. Mozambique extends from the Zambesi to 
Cape Delgado, and is similar in its features to the Sofala Coast. 
The country is inhabited by the large and powerful tribe of 
the Macuas. The principal river is the Zambesi. 

Zanzibar extends from Cape Delgado to the E-iver Jub, near 
the equator. There are few bays or harbors. The region 
possesses a great number of rivers. The vegetation is luxuri- 
ant. The fauna comprises all the more characteristic African 
species. The inhabitants in general are the Sawahili, but the 
coasts are under the dominion of the Arabs, whose chief rulers 
are the Imaum of Muscat and the Sultan of Zanzibar. Tlie 
island of Zanzibar used to be the residence of the Imatim, but 
the dominion being divided, the Sultan of the Zanzibar portion 
now lives there. Mombas, on a small island close to the main 
shore, has the finest harbor on that coast. The Somali country 
is the eastern horn of Africa. There is a considerable amount 
of commerce. The inhabitants in general belong to the Galla 
tribe ; but the trade is in the hands of the Arabs. 

Central Africa is the region which extends from the southern 
borders of the Sahara in the north, to Cape Colony in the 
south ; and from Senegambia in the west, to the territory of 
the Egyptian pashalic on the east. Within this territory are 
the Tsad, and those other great lakes which have been tlie sub- 
jects of more recent discovery and geographical exploration. 
The inhabitants are Negroes of various races, Arabs, Moors, 
and Berbers; divided into separate tribes, under numerous 
rulers and chiefs. 

Bambarra occupies part of the basin of the Joliba, the upper 
source of tlie Kawara. The people are Mandingoes and Fou- 
lahs. Segu, the capital, has thirty thousand inhabitants. 

Timbuctoo, also in the basin of the Joliba, is below Bam- 
barra, and is partly within the Sahara. Houssa lies to the 
north, and is inhabited by Foulahs and Negroes — the Negroes 
predominating. The capital is one of the largest towns occu- 
3 



34: TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL. 

pied by ]N'egroes ; it is named Sackatoo. Another large town, 
ICano, has a population of from thirty to forty thousand. 

Bornu is a powerful state, extending on the west to the 10° 
of long., on the east to Lake Tsad and the kingdom of Baghirmi, 
and on the south as far as Mandara and Adamaua, in about 11° 
north lat. 

Baghirmi is another powerful kingdom to the east of Bornu. 
The inhabitants are given to war, and are tempted thereto by 
the slave-trade. Darf ur and Waday are to the east of Baghirmi. 
and are densely populated. A great part of this territory re- 
sembles in character the Sahara. Adamaua is an extensive 
country south of Houssa and Bornu, and is under Foulah do- 
minion. It is a large and cultivated valley. It was first visited 
by Dr. Barth in 1851. 

A considerable number of islands besides Madagascar be- 
long to Africa, but these, in such a work as the present, it will 
be sufficient merely to name : the Madeiras, belonging to Por- 
tugal, lie off the north-west coast at a distance of three hundred 
and sixty miles ; the Canaries, belonging to Spain, are about 
three hundred miles south of Madeira, being the supposed 
Fortunate Islands of the ancients ; the Cape Yerde Islands, 
subject to Portugal, a numerous group about eighty miles from 
Cape Verde ; Fernando Po, a mountainous island in the Bight 
of JBiaf ra ; St. Thomas, immediately under tlie equator ; Anno- 
bom, in 2° south lat., and belonging to Spain ; Ascension, a 
small arid islet, volcanic in character ; St. Helena, a great rock 
rising two thousand six hundred and ninety-two feet from the 
sea ; the Comoro Isles are four in number, and lie on the north 
of the Mozambique channel ; Bourbon, four hundred miles 
east of Madagascar, is a colony of France ; Mauritius, ceded to 
Britain by France in 1814, is ninety miles east of Bourbon ; 
and Socotra, a large island, east of Cape Jerdaffun, with an 
Arab population, belonging to Great Britain; 



CHAPTEE. II. 

MADAaASOAR. 

To avoid any interruption of the continuity of our narra- 
tive, we will introduce here, and now, what ought to be said 
respecting Madagascar. Though not a part of the continent of 
Africa, it is yet closely related to it, and no description of the 
former would be complete without some reference to it. 

This immense island stretches down towards Africa, on the 
western edge of the Indian Ocean, at a distance of from three 
to four hundred miles. It is about nine hundred miles in 
length, and in breadth is from three to four hundred, with an 
area of about 234,440 square miles. A great range of moun- 
tains, extending from north to south, near the centre, forms a 
lofty watershed from east to west. On one of these heights is 
the capital, Antananarivo, about five thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. There are many streams watering the valleys 
and plains, but the surface of the country is so much broken 
that none of them are navigable for any great distance. There 
are four great forests, crossing the island in four different 
parts, the sliade of them covering both hill and valley. Every- 
where may be seen the rankness and splendor of tropical veg- 
etation ; the palm, in many kinds, baobabs, mangoes, sago-trees, 
and figs, are abundant in all the wooded districts. 

Being almost entirely within the torrid zone, while at the 
same time it presents such variety of elevation, the island has a 
wide range of temperature and climate, the lowlands suffering 
from oppressive heat, and the mountain ranges from severe 
cold. The hills are healthy, but, as in all tropical countries, 
the sea-shore and the low-lying valleys are afflicted with fever. 
Ilealthfulness being in proportion to elevation, the towns are 
usually built on hills. 

The inhabitants are a peculiar race. The original stock ap- 
pears to have been Malay, but the island being so near Africa 
as to be really a part of it, there has been a large infusion of 
Arab and Negro blood into the population. A Jilalay mixture 
is to be met with in other parts of Africa proper, and, indeed, 
may be found spreading itself east and west over twenty de- 



36 



MADAGASCAR 



grees, or more than Iialf the circumference of the globe. The 
whole island was, within "less than a century ago, broken up 
into more than a hundred separate and commonly hostile gov- 
ernments. But during the last fifty years the Negroid Sakala- 
vas of the north and west, the Batsileo of the south, and the 
Betanim and others of the east, have been brought under the 
common swa}^ of the fairer-skinned and straighter-haired 
Hovas (or Ovahs) of the centre. 




IRON SMELTERS IN MADAGASCAR. 

The conversion of Madagascar to Christianity forms one of 
the most remarkable chapters in modern history. Radama I., 
who ascended the throne in 1808, had heard of "Western re- 
finement, and cultivated acquaintance and friendship with the 
English. The furniture and customs and dress of Europe 
were largely introduced by him into his court; and the^sc 
stood, and still stand, in striking contrast with a barbarism 



MADAGASCAR, 37 

which, though at first resembling that of the African Kaffres, 
is gradually yielding, but which, especially in remote parts, still 
in a measure remains. 

The government had been previously almost a pure despotism, 
and till a later period such it remained. Slavery had always 
prevailed. The fearful ordeal of tangena, or poison-water, to 
which suspected criminals, as among many savage tribes, had 
been subjected, is now, however, abolished. Formerly, at least, 
the Malagasy were a temperate people, but chastity was un- 
known. They had really no religion before the establishment 
of the missions. They had idols, it is true, but these were fe- 
tiches rather than gods. A red rag, or a shapeless block, was 
honored as having divine powers, and charms were in univer- 
sal request, but there were no priests, no temples, nor any 
forms of worship whatever. Divination by means of rice or 
beans ruled every event of individual life or public proced- 
•ure. 

Missionary effort was begun among these people in the year 
1820. Hadama had invited missionaries at an earlier period, 
but it had not been possible sooner to comply with his request. 
He patronized the schools, and left the mission at full liberty 
to follow out its higher purposes, while, at the same time, it 
was the secular good and the civilization which he prized, 
rather than the spiritual instruction. He had already abol- 
ished the slave-trade, and under his protection the path of the 
mission was peaceful. His personal character aided the mis- 
sionaries. Stern in justice, strict in his word, and kind as a 
rule, he led his people like a flock, and proved himself one of 
the most remarkable civilizers the world has ever seen. He 
abolished petty wars, and made the Hovas triumphant over the 
whole island, introduced many arts hitherto unknown, ex- 
tended agriculture, began colonies, and adopted and encour- 
aged everything that promised to raise his people and to make 
himself a great king. He learned to mock the diviners, to 
ridicule the holy- water, and to twit the worshippers of idols. 
But his last days were his most immoral, and he died of dissi- 
pation and vicious excess in the very prime of his life. Dur- 
ing the eight years of his reign during which missionaries had 
been on the island, they had begun a work which was destined 
to revolutionize the whole of Madagascar. They overcame to 
a large extent the prejudice of the people against foreigners, 
impressed European ideas and religious principles on ten thou- 
sand children whom they taught to read and write, set to work 
the printing-press, and put into circulation innumerable books 



38 MADAGASCAR 

and tracts, educational and religions, and, above all, sent abroad 
the Bible in Malagasy, the knowledge of which kept alive 
among the people trie sacred fire of a sincere devotion, whi(!h 
could not be quenched by the fiercest persecution, even after 
their teachers had been compelled to flee. 

Radama died in 1828. Ranavalona, one of his widows, be- 
came his successor. For a time the missionaries were confirmed 
in their privileges; but this was only the calm before the 
bursting of the storm. Additional idols were consecrated, and 
bloody sacrifices profusely offered. The country must be puri- 
fied and set free from the infection of the new faith. At 
no previous period had the mission been so promising. The 
first baptism of natives took place in 1831. The congrega- 
tions were crowded ; the press was sending out more than it 
had ever produced ; native converts were beginning to teach 
others what they themselves had learned to believe ; even 
slaves turned preachers of the new faith. But the Queen was 
fairly in the hands of the idol and native party. She must 
either yield before this new religion, or go further in her oppo- 
sition to it. She would go further ! All the privileges con- 
ceded by Badama were withdrawn. It was the Queen's pleas- 
ure that all who had attended Christian meetings or sung 
hymns to Christ, should confess the fact and trust to her clenr- 
ency ; Christian books were to be delivered up and destroyed. 
The missionaries might teach the mechanical arts ; but their 
schools must be closed, and they could not be permitted in any 
way to speak about religion. All this had been reached by 
1835, and the missionaries were compelled to leave. 

The land was then scoured by the soldiery. The converts 
were of all classes, and there was mercy for none. The suf- 
ferers were fined if they confessed ; but many were driven 
from their habitations, and obliged to take refuge in swamps 
and forests, and not a few died of starvation and exposure. 
Many were sold into slavery ; many were banished to distant 
parts of the island ; bnt their faith remained unshaken. Some 
were speared, some suffocated in subterranean rice-pits, some 
crucified, some burned alive, some scalded to death, and many 
flung over a precipice at the capital and left to the dogs. This 
dreadful state of things continued from 1835 to the death of 
the Queen in 1861. 

But after the night comes the morning. The Queen was 
succeeded by her illegitimate son, Badama II., who was no 
sooner on the throne than he proclaimed himself the friend of 
the English, invited the missionaries to return, abolished all re- 



MADAGASCAR. 39 

strictions on foreign commerce, established schools, and enacted 
universal toleration. The banished Christians were at once re- 
called, and a general jail delivery made of prisoners for opinion. 

The London Missionary Society, which had established the 
mission at first, lost no time in responding to the King's invita- 
tion. Mr. William Ellis had been in Madagascar in the last 
years of the Queen. This would be his third visit to the island, 
lie had upon him the effect of missionary toil in another land, 
and he was now advanced in age ; but he cheerfully complied 
with the request of the Directors, and at once proceeded to 
the task of restoring a work that had been so disastrously in- 
terrupted. Six missionaries immediately followed him. He 
and they found that very many of the former converts had, in 
secret, remained true to their convictions, and, by reading the 
Bible and maintaining Christian intercourse with each other, 
had been enabled to endure the days of persecution. 

Nothinoj could be more cordial than the welcome which the 
missionaries received. True, there w^as no security, but in the 
will of the young king. lie had been reported a Christian, 
bat the fact was not established. His disposition was humane, 
his policy was just towards all, and his intercourse with the 
missionaries was always friendly. But he might change any 
day, — permission was required for every step which it might 
be desired to take, and any privilege already granted might be 
revoked in a moment. The toleration, however, was complete. 
At the coronation, the Protestants found themselves ranged 
in the same square with the keepers of idols on the one hand, 
and the Sisters of Mercy on the other. 

The reign of Radama II., however, was short. Of a natural 
disposition more than ordinarily amiable, and with his mind 
disposed towards the reception of Christianity, he was never- 
theless made the dupe of the idol party, and, it is to be feared, 
that he gave way to habits of intemperance. Ilis mind appa- 
rently became affected. Matters reached a crisis in the course 
of 1863 — a revolution of the Government occurred — and he 
was strangled in his own palace. ISTotwithstanding his weak- 
nesses and his faults, he had deserved a better fate. He had 
opened the country to the industry, enterprise, and skill of 
foreigners, had entered into treaties of friendship and com- 
merce with England and France, had established perfect re- 
ligious liberty and equality for natives and foreigners, and had 
placed the relations of Madagascar with other countries on a 
better foundation than had ever before existed. He had again 
abolished the tangena and the punishment of death. He had 



40 MADAQA8GAB, 

freely gi'anted sites for the Protestant churches. He had in- 
troduced the payment of wages for work done by the natives, 
instead of the demand of the Government as formerly for 
unrequited labor; and by justice, generosity, and peaceable 
measures, had sought to bind the different races to their rulers, 
and to each other. 

His widow was constrained to become his successor, under 
the name Hasoherina — the form of the government being much 
modified : the word of the sovereign was not any longer to be 
law ; the sovereign, the nobles, and the heads of the people 
were to unite in making the laws ; friendship with foreigners 
was to be maintained ; no one was to be put to death on the 
word of the sovereign alone ; religion and worship were to be free 
to all ; the ordeal of the tangena was not to be used, but death 
was to be inflicted for great crimes ; and " the sovereign should 
not be permitted to drink spirituous liquors." The new Queen 
speedily confirmed to the missionaries all their liberties and 
privileges. 

Mr. Ellis returned to England in 1866, having seen the thor- 
ough re-establishment of the mission — a work which he greatly 
aided by his tact and sagacity and unwearied perseverance. 

When the missionaries were driven from their post in 1835, 
they left a field in which they had labored alone ; and, now 
that they have returned, the work is chiefly theirs, but they are 
efficiently assisted by agents sent to their help by the Society 
of Friends. These last are principally occupied in the work 
of the schools. 

A few years ago there was a wide-spread and general de- 
struction of the idols, in which the Queen set the example. 
Places of worship have sprung up in all directions, and every 
village which contains any great number of converts has its 
separate church. Almost the entire cost of these buildings 
has been borne by the people themselves. One of the mission- 
aries says, " The work of chapel-building still goes on vigor- 
ously. The skill and care employed in erecting the house of 
prayer, the laudable desire of the people to have the best build- 
ing they can afford, perhaps also the emulation excited in them 
by the newly finished work of their neighbors, all tend to pro- 
mote, not their religious welfare alone, but their comfort and 
civilization. It has alread}^ excited a marked influence in im- 
proving their dwellings, both as to neatness and comfort. 
Among the places of worship finished during the year, that at 
Namehana deserves especial notice. It will accommodate 1,600 
or 1,800 people, and its interior embellishments, without be- 



MADAGASCAB. 41 

ing at all costly or out of taste, are quite a triumph of Mala- 
gasy art." 

There is now a Theological Institution for training native 
ministers ; a Normal School for the instruction of teachers ; 
aud many schools for children and others spread over the island. 
The number of English missionaries in 1872 was twenty, and, 
on account of the great increase in the number of hearers, an 
augmentation of ten was guaranteed. There "are not fewer 
than two thousand native pastors and missionaries. Besides 
these, there is a large staff of teachers, some of them English, 
wholly devoted to their profession. 

Fears have been entertained, since the accession of the 
Queen and the Prime Minister to the ranks of the Christians, 
lest the liberties of those who still cling to heathenism should 
be interfered with, on the one hand, or that the Christians 
themselves should be overruled on the other. But such fears 
have not been realized. These exalted personages seem to 
have really learned the lesson of toleration, and, although 
there is a church in the palace, no one is compelled to attend, 
lior is the free action of the congregation either there or else- 
where allowed to be in anywise impeded or hindered. 

The general burning of the idols produced much excitement 
and inquiry in the whole population, including all ranks. In 
1835, as has already been stated, the number of converts was 
200. In tho three last past years very large additions have 
been made. Within that space of time there have been not 
fevvcr than 258,000 converts, including 32,000 church members. 
Those who are styled converts are persons who have adjured 
heathenism, and who are gradually feeling their way into 
clearer light ; the members are those who have been proved 
and committed to the full communion of the Church. Among 
both classes there must, doubtless, be diverse grades of intelli- 
gence ; but the present position and the future prospect are 
both abundantly encouraging. 



CHAPTER III. 

NOTICES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS. 

James Bruce was born at Kiniiaird House, in the county of 
Stirling, Scotland, in 1730. He received his early education at 
Harrow, from which he went to the University of Edinburgh, 
where he studied with a view to the profession of the law. 
But he changed his purpose, and entered into partnership with 
a wine-merchant, whose daughter lie married. His wife died 
within a year, and he made a tour abroad. His father died 
during his absence, and he consequently succeeded to the es- 
tate of Kinnaird. On his return to England, he sought public 
employment, and at lengtli was indebted to Lord Halifax for 
the appointment of consul at Algiers. He repaired to his 
post in 1763," and employed himself there for a year in the 
study of Oriental languages. He commenced travelling by 
visits to Tunis, Tripoli, Rhodes, Cyprus, Syria, and several parts 
of Asia Minor, where, accompanied by an able Italian 
draughtsman, he made drawings of the ruins of Palmyra, 
Baalbec, and other remains of antiquity, all of which he subse- 
quently deposited in the King's Library at Kew. They are 
now to be found in the British Museum. He was accustomed 
to the language of hyperbole and boast, which was his weak- 
ness, and he himself says, " This was the most magnificent 
present in that time ever made by a subject to his sovereign." 
Of his first travels he never published any acccount. In June, 
1768, he began liis famous journey to discover the sources of 
the INile. Proceeding first to Cairo, he navigated the Nile to 
Syene, thence crossed the desert to the Red Sea, and, arriving 
at Jidda, passed some months in Arabia Felix, and after various 
detentions reached Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, in Febru- 
ary, 1770. In that country, he ingratiated himself with the 
sovereign and other influential persons, both men and women, 
himself professing, not falsely, to be physician, courtier, and 
soldier. On Nov. 14, 1770, he obtained the great object of his 
wishes — a sight of what he thought to be the sources of the 
Nile. Claiming to be the first European who had accomplished 
this interesting discovery, his exultation was proportionate, and 



NOTICES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS. 43 

lie records it with characteristic exuberance of expression. On 
his return to Gondar, he found the country engaged in a civil 
war, and was detained two years before he could obtain per- 
mission to leave it. Thirteen months more were then occupied 
in travelling back to Cairo, in which journey he endured ex- 
cessive privations. He returned to his native country in 1773, 
and retired to his paternal seat. He married again and main- 
tained the character of an elegant and liberal host, and an ami- 
able man in private life ; but was capricious in his friendships, 
and haughty to strangers. His long-expected " Travels " did 
not appear until 1790, in four large quarto volumes, embellished 
with plates. These volumes ^re replete with curious informa- 
tion concerning apart of the world but little known to Europeans, 
and contain much interesting personal adventure and line de- 
scription. It is to be regretted that the authority of the work, 
in regard to facts of najtural history and native manners, was 
questioned on its first appearance ; for his statements have been 
more or less confirmed by all succeeding travellers who have 
come near or touched npon his track — namely, Salt, Coffin, 
Pearce, Burckhardt, Brown, Clarke, Wiltman, and Belzoni. 
Bruce, during the few remaining years of his life, felt keenly 
the incredulity of the public, and only hoped that his daughtei' 
would live to see the time when the truth of all he had written 
would be confirmed by subsequent observations. After escap- 
ing great and manifold dangers in his wanderings through bar- 
barous countries, this enterprising traveller lost his life in con- 
sequence of an accidental fall downstairs in his own house in 
April, 1794. 

Andeew Sparrman, a Swedish naturalist and traveller, was 
born about 1747, and studied medicine at Upsal. In 1765 he 
made a voyage to China. On his return he went to the Cape 
of Good Hope in 1772 ; lie there joined Captain Cook in his 
voyage round the world, and, returning to tlie Cape in 1775, 
undertook a jonrney into the interior of Africa. He first 
visited Mossel Bay; then striking more into the heart of tlie 
country, he penetrated as far as the Great Fish Kiver, and 
afterwards, taking a direct northei'ly course, advanced as far 
as lat. 28° 30' S. and 350 leagues from the Cape. On February 
6th, 1776, he turned southwai-d, and occasionally deviating 
from his former track, reached Cape Town on the 15th of 
April, laden with specimens of plants and animals. In the 
course of the same year, he returned home ; but in 1787 made 
another attempt to exploi-c the interior, whicli was abortive. 
He died at Stockholm in 1S20. Sparrman's reputation .is 



44 NOTICES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS. 

founded chiefly on his travels, which were published first in 
German at Berlin, and subsequently in English at London. 
The map prefixed to his book is the first in which the coast of 
Africa from the Cape to the Great Fish E-iver is laid down 
with any degree of accuracy. 

MuNGO Park was born at Fowlshiels, near Selkirk, Scotland, 
on the 10th of September, 1771. Ilis father occupied the farm 
of Fowlshiels under the Duke of Buccleuch. He received a 
good preliminary education, and afterwards studied medicine 
at the University of Edinburgh. He became fond of botany, 
and this gave a strong color to his whole future life. The 
African Association wanted a successor to Major Houghton, 
and Park was appointed. Having spent about two years in and 
near London, gaining the necessary qualifications, he set sail in 
May, and on the 21st of June following, in 1795, arrived at 
Jillifree, near the mouth of the Gambia. He explored a con- 
siderable portion of the course of the Niger, and reached Lon- 
don on Christmas morning, 1797. Great interest was excited 
by the narrative of his expedition, and the profits on its publica- 
tion, together witli the liberal compensation made by the Afri- 
can Association, placed him for a time in easy circumstances. 
Having married the daughter of the gentleman with whom 
he had served his apprenticeship as a surgeon. Miss Ander- 
son, he commenced practice on his own account at Peebles, 
in ISOl ; but being offered the command of another expedi- 
tion to the Niger and the central parts of Africa, he accepted 
it, and sailed from Portsmouth on the 30th of January, 1805. 
He was accompanied by his brother-in-law, Mr. Anderson, sur- 
geon ; Mr. George Scott, draughtsman ; five artificers from the 
roj^al dock-yards ; Lieutenant Martyn, and thirty-five privates of 
the Poyal African Corps stationed at Goree, and a Mandingo, 
Isaaco, a priest and trader, who acted as guide. The object 
of the expedition was to cross from the Gambia to the Niger, 
and then to sail down the latter stream to the ocean ; but the 
expedition was alt<:>gether unfortunate. Mr. Anderson and 
others fell victims to the climate. Park's last despatches are 
•dated from Sandsanding, and he says, " I am sorry to say that 
•of forty-four Europeans who left the Gambia in perfect health, 
five only are at present alive ; viz., three soldiers (one deranged 
in his mind). Lieutenant Martyn, and myself. . . . We had no 
contest with the natives, nor was any of us killed by wild ani- 
mals or any other accident." He left Sandsanding on the 19th 
of Noveml3er, and, from inforrdation afterwards obtained, he 
seems to have proceeded down as far as Boussa, 650 miles be- 



^ NOTICES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS. 45 

low Timbuctoo, where, having been attacked by the natives, he 
and his companions attempted to save tliemselves bj swimming, 
but were drowned. Park was well qualified for the work 
which he undertook. Physically, he was a strong man, — six 
feet high, and well proportioned, with a pleasant countenance 
and plain, simple manners. His literary and scientific acquire 
ments were respectable ; and nothing can be more interesting 
than the idea which he gives of the African forests and deserts, 
the cities of the Bambarra, and the regions watered by the 
Niger. In such explorations, the treatment which one receives 
is very various, but Park, like others, found the disposition of 
the women uniformly benevolent, and in proof he relates his 
own experience. When he was prohibited by the King of 
Bambarra from crossing the J^iger, and ordered to pass the 
night in a distant village, none of the inhabitants would re- 
ceive him into their houses, and he was preparing to lodge in 
the branches of a tree. Exhausted with hunger and fatigue, 
and unprotected from a storm, he was relieved by a woman re- 
turning from the labors of the field. He was kindly invited 
to her hut, and was most carefully tended. The ot^er women 
lightened their labor by songs, one of which, at least, must 
have been extempore, for Park himself was the subject of it. 
It was sung by one of the young women, the others joining in 
the chorus. The air was sweet and plaintive ; and the words, 
literally translated, were : " The winds roared, and the rains 
fell. The poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat un- 
der our tree. He has no mother to bring him milk ; no wife 
to grind his corn. Chorus^ — Let us pity the white man ; no 
mother has he, etc. etc." These words were put into verse by 
the Duchess of Devonshire, and set to music by Ferrari, in 
the following song : 

" The wild wind roar'd, the rain fell fast ; 
The white man yielded to the blast : 
He sat him down beneath our tree ; 
For weary, sad, and faint was he ; 
And ah ! no wife or mothers care 
For him the corn or milk prepare. 

Chorus, 

" The white man shall our pity share : 
Alas ! no wife or mother's care 
For Mm the milk or corn prepa/re. 

*' The storm is o'er, the tempest past : 
And mercy's voice has hushed the blast : 



46 NOTICES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS. 

The wind is heard in whispers low, 
The white man far away must go : — 
But ever in his heart will bear 
Remembrance of the negro's care, 

CJwrus. 

" Go^ wMte man^ go ; but with thee hear 
The negro's wis/i, tlie negro's prayer ; 
Remembrance of the negro's care^ 

Frederic Conrad Hornem ann was born in 1772, at Ilildes- 
heim, Germany, and became a divinity student at Gottingen. 
lie received a clerical appointment in Hanover ; but an ardent 
desire to visit the interior of Africa induced him, in 1795, to 
request Blumenbacli to recommend him to the African Society 
in London. Being accepted by the Societ}^ he visited Cyprus 
and Alexandria, and remained several months in Cairo, to learn 
the language of the Maugrabins, or Southern Arabians. The 
French liaving landed in Egypt, he was, like all other Euro- 
peans, detained in the castle at Cairo, that he might escape the 
rage of the people. Bonaparte, being informed of his plans, 
gave him passports, and showed a disposition to promote his 
objects in every possible way. On the 5th of September, he 
left Cairo with the caravan of Fezzan. On the 8th he entered 
the Libyan desert, reached Siouah on the 16th, and arrived, 
after a tedious journey of seventy-four days, at Murzook, the 
capital of Fezzan. He remained there sick for some time, but 
on his recovery made an excursion to Tripoli, which he left in 
January, 1800, and, on the 12th of April following, he wrote 
that he was about to start on a journey with the great caravan 
of Bornu. From that time nothing certain was heard of him 
till 1818; when Yon Zach, in his " Correspondance Astrono- 
mique," intimated that he had ascertained that Ilornemann 
had died on his return from Tripoli to Fezzan, of fever, and 
lay buried at Aucalus. His journal, written in German, was 
translated and published by the African Society in- 1802, that 
having been sent home before his decease. 

John Louis Burckhardt was descended from a respectable 
family in Basle, Switzerland, and was born in 1794. As he 
was unwilling to enter into the service of his country, at that 
time oppressed by France, after having completed his studies 
at Leipsic and Gottingen, he went to London in 1806, when 
the African Association wished to make a new attempt to ex- 
plore Africa, from the north to the interior, in the way already 
traversed by Hornemann. They received Burckhardt's pro- 



NOTICES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS, 47 

posal to undertake this journey in 1808. He now studied the 
manners of the East, and the Arabian language, in their purest 
school at Aleppo. He remained two years and a half in Syria ; 
visited Palmyra, Damascus, Lebanon, and other regions ; after 
which he went to Cairo, in order to proceed with a caravan 
through the northern part of Africa to Fezzan, In 1812 he 
performed a journey up the Nile, almost to Dongola, and 
afterwards, in the character of a poor trader and a Turk of 
Syria, proceeded through the deserts of Nubia (where Bruce 
had travelled before him), under great hardships, to Berbera 
and Shend}^, as far as Suakin on the Ked Sea, whence he pro- 
ceeded through Jidda to Mecca. He was so well initiated 
into the knowledge of the language and manners of the Ara- 
bians, that when a doubt arose concerning his Islamism, he 
was, after having passed an examination in the theoretical and 
practical parts of the Mahometan faith, acknowledged by 
two learned jurists as being not only a very faithful, but a 
very learned Mussulman. In 1815 he returned to Cairo, and 
afterwards visited Sinai. Just before the arrival of a long- 
expected caravan for Fezzan, which he intended to join with 
the view of exploring the source of the Niger, he died at Cairo, 
April 15, 1817. The Mahometans performed his obsequies 
with the greatest splendor. He had previously sent home all 
his journals. His last thoughts were devoted to his mother. 
He was the first modern traveller who succeeded in penetrating 
to Shendy in the interior of Soudan, the Meroe of antiquity 
(still, as it was three thousand years ago, the depot of trade for 
Eastern Africa), and in furnishing exact information of the 
slave-trade in that quarter. He found articles of European 
fabric, such as the Zellingen sword-blades, at the great fair of 
Shendy. His travels in Nubia were published by the African 
Association in 1819, and there was included an account of his 
researches in the interior of Africa. In 1822 his Travels in 
Syria were published, and in 1829 his travels in Arabia. In 
1830 another volume from his papers appeared, entitled ^'Man- 
ners and Customs of the Egyptians." 

John Campbell was born in Edinburgh, in 1766, and became 
a Christian minister in London. He was an eminently good 
and useful man, and earnestly interested in missionary enter- 
prises. His travels in South. Africa were undertaken at the in- 
stance of the London Missionary Society. His qualifications 
were his strong common-sense, and his genuine interest in the 
welfare of his fellow-men. He passed through the localities 
which he visited with the open eyes of an intelligent observer, 



48 ITOTIGES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRA TELLERS. 

adding to our geography and our knowledge of natural his- 
tory, while the suavity of his manners and his tact made him 
many friends among the chiefs and the people. He had great, 
influence with the noted Africaner, and it was he who ar- 
ranged for Moifat's mission to the Kuruman.' 

James Kingston Tuckey was born in 1778, at Gi-eenhill, in 
the county of Cork, Ireland. He entered the navy at an early 
asge, went to India in 1794, was employed in surveying the 
coast of Kew South Wales, was taken prisoner by the French 
in 1805, and remained in captivity till 1814. He was then 
selected to command the expedition for exploring the River 
Congo, and died in Africa, in 1816. He was the author of 
" Maritime Geography and Statistics," in four volumes, written 
during his imprisonment, besides narratives of his voyages to 
Australia and Congo. 

Captain Hugh Clapperton was born in Annan, Dumfries- 
shire, Scotland, in 1788. After some elementary instruction in 
practical mathematics, he was bound apprentice, at the age 
of thirteen, to the owner of a vessel trading between Liver- 
pool and New York, and made several voyages. He was 
then impressed into the royal navy, and, becoming midship- 
man, served on the American lakes in 1815-16, and received a 
commission of lieutenant. Having returned to Scotland, he 
became acquainted with Dr. Ondney, who was about to embark 
for Africa, and requested permission to accompany him. The 
expedition, consisting of Clapperton, Denham, and Oudney, 
after several excursions by its individual members, started from 
Murzook in November, 1822, and arrived at Lake Tsad (or 
Chad) on the 4tli of the following February, a distance of eight 
hundred miles. Six days afterwards Clapperton set out with 
Dr. Oudney on an expedition to Soccatoo, the capital of Houssa. 
Oudney died on the way. Clapperton was not permitted 
to pursue his journey to the full extent of his purpose, and re- 
turned to England in 1825. This joint expedition collected 
important information, and enabled Europeans to judge more 
accurately in respect to the people of Inner Africa. On his re- 
turn to England, Clapperton was made captain, and imme- 
diately engaged for another expedition to the Bight of Benin. 
He left Badagry in December, 1825, accompanied by Captain 
Pearce and Doctor Morrison, who both perished a short time 
after leaving the coast. Clapperton went on, accompanied 
only by his faithful servant Lander. At Katunga he was 
within thirty miles of the Niger, but was not permitted to visit 
\%, Continuing his jou-rney north, he reached KanOj and then 



NOTICES OF EABLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS: 49 

proceeded westward to Soccatoo, the residence of his old friend 
Bello. Bello refused to allow him to proceed to Bornu, and 
detained him for a length of time in his capital. This deten- 
tion seems to have arisen from the fact that a war was at the 
time being carried on between Bello and the Sheikh of Bornu. 
There were also intrigues by the Pacha of Tripoli, who insinu- 
ated that the English intended the conquest of Africa, as they 
had already conquered India. Clapperton was grievously dis- 
appointed ; he became depressed in spirits, and died of dysen- 
tery on the 13th of April, 1827, at Chungarj^, a village four 
miles from Soccatoo. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Dixoir Denham was born in London, in 
1786. After finishing his education he was placed with a 
solicitor, but in 1811 entered the army, and served in the 
Peninsular campaigns. In 1823, he was engaged with Captain 
Clapperton and Doctor Oudney in exploring the central re- 
gions of Africa. His courage, address, firmness, perseverance, 
and moderation, his bold, frank, energetic disposition, and his 
conciliating manners, peculiarly fitted him for such an under- 
taking ; and it was mainly owing to his activit}^ and firmness 
that the e;xpedition obtained the permission of the Sultan of 
Fezzan to cross the desert to Lake Tsad. Leaving his com- 
panions at Kuka to recruit their health, Denham explored the 
region around the lake, and afterwards joined an Arab expe- 
dition against the natives to the southward. In a disastrous 
fight, he was wounded, and only found his way back to Kuka 
after great perils and suffering. He afterward continued his 
exploration of the interior, and returned to England with 
Clapperton in 1825. The next year he published his carefully 
written " ISTarrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and 
Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824." He went 
to Sierra Leone, in 1826, as superintendent of the liberated 
Africans, and in 1828 was appointed lieutenant-governor of the 
colony. On the 9th of June of the same year he died of fever, 
after an illness of a few days. 

Richard Lander, the explorer of the course of the Niger, 
was at first the servant of Captain Clapperton, whom he ac- 
companied in his second expedition into the interior of Africa. 
He started from the Bight of Benin with his master, after 
whose death at Soccatoo (April 13, 1827) he returned to the 
coast. His journal is published with Clapperton's. After his 
return to England he submitted to the government a plan for 
exploring the course of the Niger, which was adopted. Ac- 
companied by his younger brother John he set out from Bada- 
4 



^ 



50 NOTICES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS. 

gry, in 1830, intending to reach Lake Tsad. They encountered 
many dangers, and were finally taken prisoners at Eboe ; and 
only after the promise of a high ransom succeeded in getting 
arrangements made for conveying them to the sea. , This they 
reached by the Niger ; and thus was solved one of the greatest 
problems in African geography. This important discovery, 
opening a water communication into the interior of Africa, 
made a great impression upon the mercantile world ; and soon 
after the brothers arrived in England an association .was 
formed for the purpose of establishing a settlement upon the 
Upper Niger. But the expedition fitted out for this purpose 
unfortunately proved a failure ; and the Landers, together with 
nearly all who joined it, fell victims either to the unhealthi- 
ness of the climate, or in combats *with the natives. Kichard* 
died on February 2d, 1834:, at Fernando Po, from the wounds 
which he had received. The British government granted a 
pension of £70 a year to his widow, and of £50 a year to his 
infant daughter. 

George Francis Lyon was a native of Chichester, England, 
and was educated at Dr. Burney's naval academy at Gosport. 
After having served with distinction for some years in the 
navy, he obtained an appointment under government for ex- 
ploring the interior of Afri(;a. lie was accompanied by Mr. 
Joseph Ritchie, a young man of great attainments and much 
promise ; he was a native of Otley, in Yorkshire, and died of 
fever at Murzook, on the 19th of November, 1819. Lyon con- 
tinued his explorations alone, after having lost his companion, 
suffering many hardships and much illness. The journeys of 
these travellers confirmed previous discoveries, but added to 
them little that was new. . In 1821, Captain Lyon published 
his journal, " A Narrative of Travels in Northern Africa, ac- 
companied by Geographical Notices of Soudan, and of the 
Course of the Niger." Captain Lyon, returning to his own 
proper profession, had command of one of the ships in the ex- 
pedition to the Northern Seas, under Captain Parry, in 1821- 
'23. He died at sea at the early age of thirty-seven. 

Alexander Gordon Laing was born at Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, in 1794, and was educated at the university of that city. 
He obtained an ensign cy in the York Light Infantry, whicK 
regiment he joined at once at Antigua. Two years afterwards 
he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the same corps, which he 
held till the regiment was reduced, and he was placed upon 
half -pay. After various changes, inasmuch as he always pre- 
ferred active service, he was sent in 1822, by Sir Charles 




Pi 



g 
o 



NOTICES OF EARLIER AFRICAN TRAVELLERS. 51 

M'Cartliy, on an embassy to Gambia and the Mandingo coun- 
.try, to ascertain the political state of those districts, the dispo- 
sition of the inhabitants to trade, and their sentiments in regard 
to the abolition of the slave-trade. He was thus led to take a 
deeper interest than before in Africa and its people. He ex- 
ecuted his mission to the satisfaction of those who had ap- 
pointed him, and was afterwards sent on an embassy for the 
purpose of procuring the liberation of a chief in friendly re- 
lations with the British, who was held a prisoner by Yarradee, 
a warrior of the king of Soolima. On arriving at the camp of 
the Soolima army, he was informed that Sannassee had been 
set at libert}^, after his town had been burnt, and that his life 
had been spared only from the fear of offending the British 
governor. While upon this mission he had observed that many 
of the men who accompanied the Soolima army possessed con- 
siderable quantities of gold; and having learned that ivory 
abounded in Soolima, he suggested to the governor the advan- 
tages which would result to the colony from the opening up of 
intercourse with these people, intimating his opinion that the 
effort would not be attended with much hazard or expense, and 
that a great object would be attained in the knowledge of 
many countries to the eastward of the colony, of which, like 
that of the Soolimas, little was known besides the name. This 
suggestion was submitted to the council, who approved of the 
undertaking, and left it to Laing's own judgment to carry out 
his plan. His third mission, upon which he started from 
Sierra Leone on the 16th of April, 1822, led him to penetrate 
through a far more extensive tract of country than before, 
much of it previously unexplored. During his absence he was 
promoted to the rank of captain. It was immediately after his 
return that he was ordered to join his regiment on the Gold 
Coast, where he was employed in the command of a consider- 
able native force on^the frontier of the Ashantee country, and 
was frequently engaged with detachments of the Ashantee 
army. On the death Of Sir Charles M'Carthy, in 1824, Cap- 
tain Laing was sent to England to acquaint the government 
with the state of the command in Africa. He obtained a short 
leave of absence, and revisited Scotland, and returning to Lon- 
don in October, 1824, an opportunity presented itself, which he 
had long desired, of proceeding, under the auspices of govern- 
ment, on an expedition to discover the termination and course 
of the J^iger. He was promoted to the rank of major, and left 
London on that enterprise early in February, 1825, intending to 
leave Tripoli for Timbuctoo in the course of the summer. At 



5»^ NQTWmS- OF EAELIEM AFBICAN TUAYELLEHS. 

Tripoli he married tlie daughter of the British consul at that 
place, and two days afterwards proceeded on his mission. On 
the 18th of August, 1826, he reached Timbuctoo-.. On the 21st 
of September, he wrote a short letter to his wife and her father 
from that place, but it was bro-ught to them only after his de- 
cease. It had been left behind him when he started fj*om 
Timblictoo for Sego, with instructions that it should be for- 
warded to its destination. Along with it was brought a docu- 
ment in Arabic, in which Sultan Ahmad, the sovereign of 
those countries^ instructed Osman, his lieutenant-governor, to 
prevent the further progress of the traveller. Osman was 
obliged to obey his instructions. He therefore engaged a 
skeikh of the Arabs of the Desert,, named Barbooshi, to go out 
with the Christian, and protect him as far as the town of Ar- 
wan. The sheikh accordingly went with him from Timbuctoo, 
but on arriving at his own residence he treacherously murdered 
him, and took possession of all his property. It is believed by 
many, however, that Laing's own confidential attendant was the 
murderer. But, in either case, thus perished, in the full vigor 
4>f manhood, this brave and enterprising traveller. 




CHAPTER ly. 

EECENT EXPLORATIONS. 

Geeat additions have been made within the last twenty-five 
years to our knowledge of Africa; but our information re- 
specting that vast region still lacks the fulness and precision of 
that which we possess in regard to other lands. The myste- 
rious interior of the continent has, however, been penetrated at 
numerous points, and the comparison of any good recent map 
of this portion of the world with one of older date at once 
shows the extent and the importance of the results of the 
travels of recent explorers. At the same time, it shows how 
much still remains to the efforts of the time which is to 
come. 

The great rivers are connecting links between the journeys 
of individual explorers, and three among them have served, 
especially, to guide the course of modern discovery — the Nile, 
the Niger, and the Zambesi. A brief summary of what was 
accomplished in the way of adding to our knowledge of these 
streams will be a fitting preliminary to our outlines of the sepa- 
rate expeditions. 

The Nile has long been a problem in African geography. 
Bruce visited the sources of the Blue Nile, or Bahr-el-Azrek, in 
1770, a Portuguese traveller having anticipated him in the en- 
terprise about a century and a half. But the discoveries of 
the earlier traveller had in great part been lost. The source 
of the White Nile, Bahr-el-Abiad, remained a subject, of in- 
quiry. This was beyond doubt the longer arm of the river. 
At the instance of tihe Pasha of Egypt, efforts were made tow- 
ards discovery in 1839, and again in 1841. In the former of 
those years, the Egyptian expedition ascended the river to a 
point stated as within 3° 35' of the equator. This was subse- 
quently corrected by M. d'Arnaud, who accompanied the expe- 
dition of 1841, to lat. 6° 35' N. Missionary labors and com- 
mercial enterprise had meanwhile extended the range of 
inquiry in this region. The Roman Catholic missionaries 
established at Gondokoro (lat. 4° 50') in 1853-9 had examined 
the river up to lat. 3° N. ; and European merchants, engaged 



54 BECENT EXPLORATIONS. 

in the ivory trade, had established depots lying" as far to the 
southward. But beyond the third paralled of N. lat. the maps 
remained a blank. 

The late Dr. Beke was among the first to suggest the eastern 
coast, within a few degrees of the equator, as the locality which 
might be most advantageously explored with a view to the deter- 
mination of the limit of the Nile basin, and of ultimately reach- 
ing the sources themselves. There were several causes contribu- 
ting to the direction of attention to that quarter. The Church 
Missionary Society had fixed a mission at Mombas, or theneigh- 
JDorhood (lat. 4° S.) ; the missionaries, came into intercourse 
with the numerous Arab traders frequenting Mombas and 
other ports on that line of coast, and received from them accounts 
of a great lake situated at some distance in the interior. Mr. 
Kebmann and Dr. Krapf, two German missionaries stationed at 
Mombas, therefore made various journeys in 1847 and the two 
succeeding years, and obtained a knowledge of different dis- 
tricts lying between the parallels of 3° and 5° S., extending 
inland to a direct distance of probably two hundred miles from 
the Indian Ocean. They saw the mountain Kilimanjaro, the 
summit of which was covered with snow, its altitude being 
hence concluded to be not less than twenty thousand feet 
above the level of the sea. There were other and perhaps loft- 
ier mountains recognized as occurring within the same region, 
particularly one to which the name of Kenia is given, to the 
northwards of Kilimanjaro. The existence of snow-clad moun- 
tains in such near proximity to the equator has excited consid- 
erable interest. These observations have been confirmed by 
subsequent travellers, and particularly by Baron von Decken 
(1860-1), a native of Hanover, who, starting from Mombas and 
proceeding thence southwards along the coast to Wanga, struck 
from thence into the interior, and, crossing the Ugono and Arus- 
cha ranges (the latter four thousand feet higli), reached the 
loftier Region to which Kilimanjaro belongs. The Baron made 
two ascents of IGlimanjaro, and upon one of these occasions 
reached the height of thirteen thousand nine hundred feet. 
At the height of eleven thousand feet, snow, mixed with rain, 
appeared to have fallen during the night, and to have melted 
with the morning sun, up to an elevation of probably seven- 
teen thousand feet. Baron von Decken's triangulations give 
an altitude of twenty thousand and sixty-five feet, as the height 
of the main peak of Kilimanjaro. 

The intelligence gained by the missionaries respecting great 
lakes in the interior coinfirmed conclusions which had already 



RECENT EXPLORATIONS. 55 

been arrived at by geograpliers, and therefore naturally excited 
much interest. Captain Burton — an officer of the Indian 
army, and ah-eady familiar with Indian travel from the expe- 
rience of a journey in 1854:-'5 to the kingdom of Ilarar, lying 
inland from the upper extremity of the Gulf of Aden — there- 
fore proposed to the Koyal Geographical Society a project for 
opening up the lake regions of Interior Africa to the south of 
the equator. That learned body approved of his scheme, which 
the British government sanctioned, and in favor of wliich it 
made a pecuniary grant. Captain Burton was accompanied 
by Captain Spoke, a feliuw-officer of the Indian army, and his 
companion at Bcrbera, on the coast of the Somauli country, in 
1854. Zanzibar, off the coast of Eastern Africa, was the point 
of their departure, at the end of June, 1857. TJie details of 
their expedition will be found in subsequent pages. 

This journey of Burton and Speke in 1857-9 led to the later 
ex-pedition of Speke and Grant in 1801-'2. Immediately on his 
discovery of the N'yanza Lake, a body of fresh water, found 
within a few degrees south of the equator, and at an elevation 
of between three thousand and four thousand feet above the sea, 
Speke came to the conclusion that this would prove the head 
water of the Nile. The Geographical Society aided him in the 
equipment of a new expedition for the purpose of solving the 
problem. lie was accompanied by Captain Grant, another offi- 
cer of the Bengal army. They left England in 1860, and 
started from Zanzibar for the interior in October of the same 
year, pursuing the route taken by the former expedition as far 
as Unj'anyembe. Being much delayed on their journey by 
many untoward occurrences, they were unable to leave Kazeh 
in Unyanyembe until September, 1861. From this point they 
took a new route to the north-west, passing through the dis- 
tricts of Uzinza and Karagire, the latter a highland region, and 
crossing the Kitangulc Biver, went on to Mashonde (lat. 50' S.) 
in the upper parts of the Uganda country. Ilere, on this jour- 
ney', was obtained the first view of the N'j^anza. This is more 
than a hundred and sixty miles in a direct line from the point 
at which Captain Speke had pi'eviously reached the lake. 
Speke prefers to call this great body of water — considerably 
exceeding in proportions those of Lake Superior — by the name 
of Victoria N'yauza. The travellers proceeded round the north- 
west, and part of the north coast of the lake, through a country 
composed of low sandstone hills, streaked hy small streams — 
the effect of almost constant rains — and grown over with gi- 
gantic grass, except in places which are under cultivation. 



56 hecent explorations. 

!North of the equator the landscape presented the same fea- 
tures, but with an increase of beauty. The Mweranga and the 
Liiajerri, two rivers of moderate dimensions, flowing to the 
north, were crossed, and farther to the east the Nile itself, 
described as issuing from the lake by a passage over rocks of an 
igneous character, with a descent of twelve feet immediately 
below, forming what the explorer calls the " Ripon Falls." At 
this point the coast-line of the lake was abandoned, and the 
stream of the river followed downward to the Karuma Falls 
(lat. 2° 20' JSf.), the course of it lying at first through sandstone 
hills, among which it rushes with great force, afterwards pass- 
ing over long flats, where it has the aspect of a lake rather 
than a river. The prevalence of wars prevented the continu- 
ance of the track along the course of the stream immediately 
below the Karuma Falls, and therefore the river was left -for 
a time ; but Speke, continuing his route to the north-west, 
again came upon it in the Madi country (lat. 3° 40' N. ), where 
" it still bore the unmistakable character of the Nile — long 
flats, long rapids." From this point the Nile flows northwards, 
and a little below receives a considerable affluent, the Asua 
River, and continues the same general course. At Gondokoro 
(lat. 4° 50' N.) the expedition met Sir Samuel Baker. They 
were now upon known ground. They had reached Gondokoro 
in February, 1863, more than twenty-eight months after having 
left Zanzibar. 

Mr. Petherick, who had been despatched from England with 
well-appointed means to ascend the Nile valley, in order to aid 
in the accomplishment of the main purpose of the expedition, 
did not arrive at Gondokoro till after Speke and Grant had also 
reached that point in their return course. He therefore accom- 
plished nothing at this time in the way of geographical discov- 
evj. On a previous occasion he had partially examined the 
Bahr-el-Ghazal, a western affluent of the Nile, joining it about 
lat. 9° 10' N., and had by that means added to our knowledge 
of the river. Madame Tinne and her daughter, accompanied 
by Dr. Ileuglin, a German savant, undertook the examination 
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal basin, at a later date, but they accom- 
plished nothing. Their attempt alone is worthy of record. 

The results of Captain Speke's expedition, though of great 
value to geography, even regarding his later travels, are not 
final in respect to the sources of the N ile. Neither the Victoria 
nor the Albert N'yanza can claim to be the head of that great 
river. We shall have occasion hereafter to refer in detail 
to Captain Speke's explorations. 



RECENT EXPLORATIONS. 57 

The chapters on Stanley and Livingstone, and Livingstone's 
last journey, show that Dr. Livingstone believed himself to be 
on the npper course of the Nile, in his exploration of the 
Lnapula and Lualaba rivers, and consequently that its sources 
lie much farther south than has been hitherto supposed. But 
Schweinfurth's recent journey carried him to the very region 
whence the Lualaba must come, if it connects with the Nile 
either through the Albert IST'yanza or the upper waters of the 
Bahr-el-Ghazal, and he found all the streams flowing westward, 
and probably into the Shary. This latter traveller discovered 
the very springs from which the Dyoor, which he believes 
(apparently with good reason) to be the main stream of the 
Bahr-el-Ghazal, issues. The other chief affluents come from 
the north-west. 

To the southward the course of recent African discovery 
has been chiefly in connection with the valley of the river 
Zambesi and the affluents to its extensive basin. The results 
accomplished in this direction are mainly due to the energy of 
Dr. Livingstone, and an account of his journeys will be given 
more at length. 

For nearly three-quarters of a century, the countries watered 
by the Niger have offered an inviting held for African travel 
and discovery. Particulars have already been stated in respect 
to earlier efforts. The work of the Landers has also been 
spoken of. Laird and Oldfield, in 1833, ascended the river, ac- 
companied by Mr. William Allen, who executed a survey of it 
from the sea up to some distance above the point where it is 
joined on the eastern bank by the great stream formerly known 
as Chadda, but since called Benue. In later years there have 
been repeated ascents of the Lower Niger, and also of the 
stream known as Old Calabar. The Niger expedition of 1841, 
fitted out by the British government for philanthropic pur- 
poses, with a view to the suppression of the slave-trade, proved 
an utter failure, and was also attended by great loss of life. But 
the feasibility of navigating the Lower Niger and Benue rivers 
has been fully demonstrated by Dr. Baikie, who, in 1854, took 
the steamer Pleiad up the stream to the point of conjunc- 
tion with the Benu6, and ascended the latter river to a dis- 
tance of more than three hundred miles above that point, or 
two hundred and fifty miles beyond the place of stopping 
which was reached by Allen and Oldfield in 1833. Dr. Bai- 
lee's successful conduct of this enterprise induced the Brit- 
ish government to equip a new expedition, with a view to 
the forming of a station, alike for commercial purposes and 



58 RECENT EXPLORATIONS. 

as a centre of missionary operations, at some point within 
tlie basins of the Lower Niger and Beniie. Dr. Baikie left 
England in charge of this expedition in 1857, and, during 
the seven succeeding years, was engaged in various investiga- 
tions within the territory to which he had been specially com- 
missioned, as well as in journeys to the kingdom of Kano and 
the high grounds dividing the basin of the Niger from that of 
Lake Tsad. He died on his return to England, in 1864, and 
much of the results of his expedition perished with him. 

The voyage of the Pleiad was supplementary in some meas- 
ure to the purposes of an exploration of Central Africa by 
overland journey through the desert, conducted at the expense 
-of the British government by Mr. Richardson, Dr. Barth, and 
Mr. Overweg. Of this expedition details are furnished in a 
later chapter. 

Captain Tuckey, as we have already seen, commanded an 
English expedition for exploring the Congo River, which made 
the attempt in 1816, without accomplishing much in the way of 
discovery. Captain Bed ingfield organized a fresh expedition in 
1864. There was no difficulty in ascending the river for up- 
wards of one hundred miles ; but at that point there are for- 
midable rapids through which the stream rushes between high 
rocks. These form a great impediment to navigation ; but 
beyond them, for the 180 miles of its course which have been 
explored, the Congo is again a noble stream, maintaining a 
width of from one to five miles. Its source is unknown, but 
the German geographer Petermann regards it as identical with 
Livingstone's Lualaba, and hence as connected with the vast 
lacustrine system of the equatorial region. Further explora- 
tions are now (October, 1874) in progress, which it is to be 
hoped will settle this latter question. 

Carl Johann Andersson, a Swedish naturalist and traveller, 
has added considerably to our knowledge of Africa below the 
parallel of Lake Ngami. In 1850 he joined Francis Galton 
in a journey from Whale Bay to the countries of the Damaras 
and the Ovambas. lie continued his explorations alone in 
1853-'4, and on his arrival in England, in 1855, published 
" Lake Ngami ; or. Explorations and Discoveries during Four 
Years' Wanderings in the Wilds of South-western Africa." 
Returning to Africa in 1856, he made, a second journey to 
Lake Ngami, and found liis way up to the Okavango River, 
through the territory of the Ovambo, one of the principal 
red tribes of the Herrevo land, which land had never before 
been visited by any European except the German missionary 



MEOENT EXPLOEATlOirS. 59 

Hugo Halm. In 1861 he published in London an account of 
the Okavango Hiver. In 1866 he attempted a third journey, 
and penetrated to the Cunene, but died at Ovacuambi on the 
way home. 

The journeys of Ladislaus Magyar, a Hungarian traveller, made 
in 184:9-'53, have nearly succeeded in supplying our knowl- 
edge of the district lying between the most northern point 
reached by Andersson, and .the route of Livingstone from the 
valley of the Upper Zambesi to the western coast. Leaving 
Beuguela, the most southern Portuguese port, in 1849, he ac- 
companied a native caravan to the inland kingdom of Bihe, 
where he took up his residence and married the daughter of 
the king. Making Bihe his base of operations, he made two 
long journeys into the interior, in one of which he reached the 
kingdom of Moluwa, which he declares to be the most power- 
ful in Central Africa. It seems to be the same as that of Ca- 
zembe or Londa. In his other journey he struck northward and 
discovered the Cunene River, which Andersson had barely 
caught sight of. 

M. Paul du Chaillu, a Franco- American traveller, travelled in 
Afriea for his own pleasure, in 1859, within a tract of country 
extending two degrees on either side of the equator, and adjoin- 
ing the north of the Gaboon River on the west coast. He trav- 
elled nearly 8,000 miles on foot, and in the course of his jour- 
neys shot and stuffed over two thousand birds, of which sixty 
were previously unknown, and killed over 1,000 quadrupeds, 
among which were several gorillas never before hunted and 
probably never before seen by a white man. The history of 
this expedition, published in S"ew York and London (in 1861) 
under the title of " Explorations and Adventures in Equato- 
rial Africa," is a valuable contribution to the geography, ethnol- 
ogy, and zoology oi Western Africa. Unfortunately many 
of his statements vihere received with distrust, chiefly because 
they did not accord with the maps of Barth and Petermann. 
A bitter controversy arose as to his truthfulness, but his accu- 
racy on most controverted points has been vindicated by the 
French travellers Servai and Griffon du Bellay, who, in charge 
of a government expedition, explored the Ogowai River and 
the adjacent country in 1862. His statements concerning the 
Fan tri be were verified by Burton. 

In 1861-2, Captain Burton increased his manifold claims to 
gratitude on account of African discovery by a careful exam- 
ination of some of the smaller rivers that enter the Bight oi 
Benin,' and also by the ascent of the lofty Cameroons Moun- 



60 RECENT EXPLORATION'S. 

tain, a volcano not yet wholly extinct, wMcli he identifies with 
the Theoa Ochema of Hanno's Periplus. The highest point 
of the mountain, according to his observation, is upwards of 
thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. The elevated 
regions of the Cameroons are covered every morning, even dur- 
ing the hot season, with a layer of hoarfrost, and are well 
suited for the purposes of a sanitarium. 

Probably the gain of modern travel in the southern half of 
Africa has been more remarkable in regard to the physical 
conformation of the continent than in any other particular. 
Instead of the high plateau-lands of which it was long supposed 
to consist, the interior appears to exhibit a series of watered 
plains, but moderately elevated above the level of the sea, and 
bordered on either Rand by ranges of higher ground, through 
openings between which the waters of the interior reach the 
ocean upon either side. The numerous lake basins, already 
ascertained to exist within the eastern interior, to the south of 
the equator, constitute one of the most important features of 
modern geography, and one that stands most in contrast with 
the popular conceptions of a region generally associated with 
the intensest conditions of heat and aridity. But much is yet 
wanting to give anything like an approach to completeness of 
knowledge in regard to the African Continent. 




CHAPTER y. 

BARTH, OVERWEG, AND RICHARDSON.— ASHANTEE. 

In 1849 the British government having determined to send 
out an expedition for the purpose of concluding commercial 
treaties with the chiefs of Korthern Africa as far as Lalve 
Tsad, and also if possible to explore the course of the E"iger, 
the command was given to Mr. James Richardson. At the sug- 
gestion of Petermann, Dr. Heinrich Earth and Mr. Adolf Over- 
weg were invited to accompany the expedition for the purpose 
of making scientific observations. Both Richardson and Earth 
had previously travelled in Africa, the latter haing made a jour- 
ney, in 1845, from Tangier in Morocco along the coast of Tunis, 
Algeria, and Tripoli, thence into the interior as far as Ben- 
ghazi, and thence across the desert to Egypt. 

In December, 1849, Dr. Earth and Mr. Overweg arrived at 
Tunis, and from thence proceeded to Tripoli, from which they 
set forth on their long and perilous expedition. Earth 
writes : " It was late in the afternoon of the 24th of March, 
1850, when Overweg and I, seated in solemn state upon our 
camels, left the town with our train, preceded by the Consul, 
Mr. Crow, by Mr. Reade, and Mr. Dickson and his family, of 
all of whom we took a hearty leave under the olive-trees near 
* Kasrel Haeni.' " More than &ve years were to pass ere Dr. 
Earth, the only survivor of the departing company, should 
again clasp hands with civilized man under these olive-trees. 
They were joined by Mr. Richardson and his party a few 
days after they had left, and proceeded on their journey through 
corn-fields and green pastures, succeeded by stony valleys in 
which were many Roman remains, which indicated that in 
that part of the world the universal conquerors had occupied 
important positions. They came upon the ruins of a massive 
stronghold, a gate with an arch of remarkably fine mason rj^, 
and several sepulchral monuments, — one of them forty-eight 
feet high and richly decorated, all proving that these deserted 
regions were once inhabited by a wealthy and highly civilized 
population. One of the most remarkable of these remains ia 
a small building which had evidently been used as a Christian 



62 BABTE, OYERWEG, AND hlCBAEDSOJST. 

charcli. Dr. Bartli believes it to have belonged to a small 
monastery, but there is no historical certainty. 

Between this point and Murzook, the capital of Fezzan, the 
country is very desolate, — stony ravines shut ill by steep and 
gloomy-looking cliffs, their dulness and monotony being re- 
lieved only at long intervals by occasional clumps of palm- 
trees. Beyond Murzook the way lies along mountain-passes, 
in which there are many curious sculptures on the sandstone 
blocks. The scenery, by and by, becomes soft and beautiful ; 
but the habits of the people ai'e predatory and dangerous to 
travellers. The blacksmith is in high repute among these 
tribes, and this is not unnatural, so far as respects his trade ; but 
he is generally the " prime minister " of the chief. There is 
a widely spread superstition to the effect that certain magical 
powers belong in some mysterious way to workers in iron ; and 
in many countries, from the earliest times, " the smith " has 
been invested with a character of indefinable dread. These 
people seem to belong to the Shem'itic branch of the human 
race. 

When the travellers arrived at Agades, in the middle of the 
Great Desert, Dr. Barth paid a visit to the Sultan. Ills dwell- 
ing and his appointments were homely. He was not yet in- 
stalled. In a few days he made a more regal appearance, — 
mounted on a valuable horse, and wearing a robe of colored 
silk and cotton, over which was a costly blue bernous which 
Dr. Bartli had presented, while at his side was acimetar w^itha 
gold handle. The procession was very long and imposing, 
chiefly on account of the great number of liorsemen included in 
it. Agades is built entirely of wood and clay, but is neat and 
cleanly in its appearance. There is in it one very curious 
building entirely constructed of clay, whicli was probably 
designed for a watch-tower; the base is about thirty feet 
square, and the height more than ninety feet, tapering to about 
eight feet square at the top. The interior is apparently unfin- 
ished ; but that part of it is not open to the visits of any but 
Mahometans. Part of it was seen, but the greater part was 
kept concealed. The clay of the tower is kept together by the 
introduction of boards of the diim-tree. 

The travellers, often retarded, went southwards towards the 
more important town of Kano, and in the course of their jour- 
ney were greatly harassed by the many predatory tribes which 
infest the mountain-passes and levy contributions from the 
caravans, much in the manner of the Scottish Borderers in the 
days of the strong hand ; at one time Barth was captured and 



BARTH, OVERWEG, AND BICEAKD80N'. 63 

very narrowly escaped death at their hands. Salt was the only 
article conveyed by the caravan with which they travelled. 
There are two kinds of it, — one solidified, and the other in 
loose grains, this latter being scarce and very dear. There was 
great merriment in the evening before leaving Agades, and, 
early next day, the united caravan, an imposing cavalcade, 
started on its long journey, and took its course along the rocky 
defiles of the valley. There was now real travelling ; but as 
yet the route presented nothing of the barrenness of the desert, 
— trees were frequent, and the few villages which were passed 
were surrounded with corn-fields. In some parts there were 
reeds, ten feet high, obstructing the progress of the travellers. 
They say that tliey had now reached those fertile regions of 
Central Africa which are not only able to sustain their own 
population, but have material to export to other countries. 
The inhabitants of the villages, though pagans and mostly 
slaves, welcomed the strangers, and provided abundant food 
for the whole caravan. Barth observed here the peculiar style 
of roof which seems to be characteristic of the tribes of Central 
Africa. The huts are built with stalks of the Indian corn, 
without any otlier support, except a few branches of the As- 
dejpias gigantea. " In examining these structures one cannot 
but feel surprised at the great similarity which they beai* to the 
J luta of the aboriginal inhabitants of Latium, such as they ai'c 
described by Yitruvius and other authors, and represented oc- 
casionally on terra-cotta utensils ; while the name in the Bornu 
or Kaniiri language, ' kosi,' bears a remarkable resemblance to 
the Latin name 'casa,' however accidental it may be." In 
these huts the supply of corn w^as plentiful; huge baskets 
made of reeds were filled with it, and placed on a scaffold of 
wood about two feet high to protect them from the mouse and 
the ant, which are very numerous and destructive. On the 
9tli of January, 1851, they reached Tagelel, on the southern 
border of the Great Desert, and Mr. Richardson w^ent on by 
the road to Zinder, a town Ij'ing to the south-east of the caravan 
route. Dr. Barth and Mr. Overweg proceeding w^ith the general 
caravan. They passed numerous fine trees, — the baobab, the 
tamarind, and the splendid tulip-tree among other kinds, with 
flocks of pigeons and guinea-fowl. Many corn-fields now al- 
ternated with cotton plantations, and furnished proof of the 
great fertility and commercial importance of Central Africa. 
There were numerous herds of cattle, and the inhabitants of 
the villages seemed to have abundance and to live in peace. 
The picture which Dr. Barth gives of the first large town he 



64: 



BARTH, OVERWEO, AND RICHARDSON'. 



visited in Kegroland proper, Tasawa, is very pleasing. Tlie 
huts were partly built of clay, and the roofs neatly thatched 
with reeds ; the court-yard being fenced in with the same. A 
cool outer building, composed of reeds and lattice-work, was 
usually reserved for the reception of visitors and the transac- 
tion of business; and the whole dwelling was sliaded by 
spreading trees. In almost all instances there were included 
in the scene groups of children, goats, fowls, pigeons, and, 
where a little wealth had been acquired, a horse or a pack-ox. 
The people themselves are a kind and cheerful race, enjoying 
to the full, apparently, the good things around them. 




BAOBAB TREE. 



The next town is Gazawa, which has rude fortifications ot 
clay. As in the case of the last town, there is here also a dye- 
ing place, indigo being cultivated in the neighborhood. The 
nearest town southward is Katsena, from which the travellers 
again set forth with the salt caravan towards the long-looked- 
for city of Kano. The intervening country they found to be 
exceedingly beautiful, with a great variety of herbage and 
foliage. There were birds of many kinds, known and un- 
known, with herds of milk-white cattle scattered over the rich 
pasture-grounds. The rather sparse population appeared 
active and industrious. Women, carrying on their heads from 
six to ten calabashes, filled with various articles, here joined 



BARTH, OVEUWEQ, AND BICHABDSOK 65 

the caraYan ; a troop of men, with loads of indigo plants to be 
prepared for dyeing, met them soon after as they passed over 
extensive tobacco-fields ; while beehives, formed of thick hol- 
low logs, were fastened to the branches of the colossal kilka- 
trees. At length, through cultivated fields, and past popu- 
lous villages, where the preparation of indigo was carried on, 
they came in sight of Kano, and Earth entered the city after 
nearly a year's continuous travel, on the evening of the 2d 
of February, 1851. His high expectations in regard to the 
city, known as the great emporium of Central Negroland, do 
not seem to have been disappointed. Kano is a large and 
flourishing town, " a little world in itself, so different in exter- 
nal form from all that is seen in European towns, yet so simi- 
lar " in many other respects. Dr. Earth says of it, there is — 

" Here a row^ of shops, filled with articles of native and for- 
eign produce, with buyers and sellers in every variety of figure, 
complexion, and dress, yet all intent upon their little gains, en- 
deavoring to cheat each other ; there a large shed with sides 
like a hurdle, full of half -naked, half-starved slaves, torn from 
their native homes, arranged like rows of cattte, and staring 
desperately upon the buyers, anxiously watching into whose 
hands it might be their destiny to fall. In another part- were 
all the necessaries of life, the wealthy buying the more palata- 
ble things for his table, the poor stopping and looking greedily 
upon a handful of grain. Here a rich governor, in silk and 
gaudy clothes, mounted on a spirited and richly caparisoned 
horse, and followed by a host of idle and insolent slaves ; 
there a poor blind man groping his way through the multitude, 
and fearing at every step to be trodden down. Here a yard 
neatly fenced with reeds, and a clean, snug-looking cottage, 
the clay walls nicely polished, a shutter of reeds placed against 
the low, well-rounded door, a cool shade for the daily house- 
hold work, a line spreading alleluba-tree with its deep shadow 
during the hottest hours of the day, or a beautiful gen da or pa- 
paya unfolding its lai-ge feather-like leaves, or the tall date-tree 
waving over the w^hole ; the matron in a clean black cotton 
gown wound round her waist, her hair neatly dressed, busy 
preparing the meal for her absent husband, or spinning cotton, 
at the same time urging her female slaves to pound the corn ; 
the children, naked and nierj-y, playing about in the yard or 
chasing a stubborn goat; earthenware pots and wooden bowls, 
all cleanly washed, standing in order. Farther on, a dashing 
Cyprian, homeless, childless, but affecting merriment, gaudily 
ornamented with numerous strinirs of beads round her neck, 
5 



QQ BABTH, OVERWEG, AND RICHARDSON'. 

her hair bound with a diadem ; near her a diseased wretch, 
covered with ulcers or with elephantiasis." 

The people, moreover, seemed to be all employed. 

" Tliere is now," continues Barth, " a * marina ' (an open ter- 
race of clay, with many dyeing-pots), and the people busily en- 
gaged in the various processes of their handicraft. Farther on 
a blacksmith, busy with his rude tools, making a dagger which 
will surprise by its sharpness those who feel disposed to laugh 
at the workman's implements. In another place are men and 
women making use of a little-frequented place to hang up 
along the fences their cotton thread for weaving. Here is a 
caravan arrived from Genja with the desired kola-nut, chewed 
by all who have ' ten kurds ' to spare from their necessary 
wants ; or a caravan laden with natron, starting for Niipe, or a 
troop of A'sbenawa, going off with their salt for the neighbor- 
ing towns, or some Arabs leading their camels, heavily laden 
with the luxuries of the north and east ; and there a troop of 
gaudy, warlike-looking horsemen galloping towards the palace 
of the governor, to bring him the news of a new inroad of 
Serki Ibram. Everywhere human life in its varied forms, the 
most cheerful and the most gloomy, seemed closely mixed to- 
gether ; every variety of natural form and complexion — the 
olive-colored Arab, the dark Kaniiri with his wide nostrils, the 
small-featured, light, and slender Ba-Fellanchi, the broad-faced 
Mandhigo, the stout, large-boned, and masculine-looking Niipe 
female, the well-proportioned and comely Ba-Hanshe woman." 

The people are for the most part Mohometans, yet there is 
a large amount of paganism still existing, and rites really 
pagan are performed in the province of Kano, as well as in 
that of Katsena. Captain Clapperton estimated the population 
at between 30,000 and 40,000. Barth at about 30,000 ; but 
this includes only the stationary population, for during the 
busy time of the year, from January to April, the influx of 
strangers is so great, that there are probably in the place as 
many as 50,000. The commerce of such a town must of course 
fee considerable. The principal article is the cotton cloth 
which is woven and dyed there. Of this there are several 
varieties, some of them being mixed with silk. Goods alto- 
gether of silk are also manufactured, the silk being obtained 
from a worm wdi'ich lives on the tamarind-tree. There is also 
leather-work produced, which is excellent ; and shoes, sandals, 
and pouches, of remarkably neat workmanship, are largely 
exported. The chief imports are the kola-nut, which has be- 
come to these people as necessary as tea and coifee are to us. 



BABTE, DYBRWEG, AND RICSARBSON'. 67 

Thei*e are also many slaves bought and sold. The number of 
these Barth found it difficult to estimate, but he calculates that 
at the time of his visit more than five thousand annually were 
imported. There must, however, be a mucli larger number, as 
the supply for the domestic use of the inhabitants of the prov- 
ince and of the adjoining districts is not included in this esti- 
mate. IN^atron, salt, and European produce of various kinds 
also find a ready market at Kano ; but calicoes and muslins are 
almost the only English or American articles. Of the pre- 
cious metals there is no great abundance. Gold is the general 
standard of value, but it is not used as currency, — shells (kurdi), 
and a kind of cloth termed " turkedi," supplying the place of 
coinage. The whole province is supposed to contain more than 
half a million inhabitants, about half of whom are slaves. The 
rule of the governor, and a kind of council associated with 
him, is, on the whole, not oppressive, although, as among more 
civilized communities, heavy taxation is not unknown. 

Barth, after about a month's residence, left Kano and pro- 
ceeded eastward to Kiikawa, passing through the frontier coun- 
tiy, which is infested with thieves. In this territory there is 
an immense level tract, which is partly desert, and afterwards 
there occurs a more fertile region, in which the villages exhib- 
ited a cheerful picture of wealth and industry ; and then he 
entered " Bornu Proper." It was here that he heard of the 
death of Mr. Richardson, whom, within a week or two, he had 
expected to meet again. He went on to Ngunituwa, to visit 
his grave, which he found under a fig-tree, and well protected 
with thorn-bushes, for the story of the white man's untimely 
end had awakened the sjanpatliies of the people, and the}^ had 
done him all honor in his burial. Keeping on through the 
country, he found it partly cultivated and partly covered with 
thick underwood, which was full of locusts ; and soon found 
himself in the neighborhood of a river. This was "the great 
Komadugu of Bornu." A fine expanse of water came insight, 
and there were many footprints of elephants. Barth was at- 
tended only by two young servants, and as they went onwards 
they came upon a company of wandering herdsmen, who gave 
the travellers a cordial welcome, bringing them immense bowls 
of milk and " fresh butter prepared with as much cleanliness 
and taste as in any English or Swiss dairy." These herdsmen 
are of the Fellatah tribe, but are permitted to pasture their 
fiocks even in the midst of a hostile race, without paying any 
tribute to the Sheikh. These hospitable people assisted the 
strangers to ford the Komadugu, which was only three feet deep 



eS BAETH, OVEBWEG, AND mCHABDSOir. 

where they crossed, although there were channels of greater 
depth at either side ; nor would they leave them until they had 
conducted them through the dense covert of underwood which 
bordered the eastern bank of the river. Great kindness, in 
various ways, was shown by these people. It is indeed impos- 
sible to read of the many humane services which Barth received 
at the hands of these simple tribes, or his description of their 
natural intelligence, their industry, and their domestic habits, 
without earnestly desiring that they may be speedily brought 
within the sphere of civilization. 

The authorities at Kukawa gave the traveller a courteous 
reception, and lie was afterwards put in possession of Mr. 
Richardson's papers and journals, together with most of his 
effects. The Sheikh Omar, whom he found to be a veritable 
black prince, was of mild temper and indolent habits, ruling 
only in name, — the real power being in the hands of his Yizier, 
el Haj Beshir, an intelligent man, who in 1843 had gone on a 
pilgrimage to Mecca, like a devout follower of the Prophet, 
whose precepts respecting wine, and whose license as to the 
pleasures of the harem, he both duly observed. This latter 
*' institution " was on a royal scale, consisting of between three 
and four hundred beauties of different tribes, not only of 
iN^egroland, but of more Northern climes — a real live Circas- 
sian, as he exultingly told Dr. Barth, having a place among 
them. After having been the Sheikh's right-hand man for 
many years, poor el Haj Beshir was put to death in 1853, leav- 
ing behind him a patriarchal family of seventy-three sons, and 
daughters without number. On the whole this man was not 
only intelligent but upright. Barth had many conversations 
with him on the importance of extending the commerce of 
Bornu, and of suppressing the slave-trade. He fully appreci- 
ated the former ; and he also acknowledged the misery con- 
nected with the latter, but it was difficult to make him sensible 
of the horrors of slave-hunting. He was desirous of entering 
into commercial relations with England, but wished the sale 
of two things to be prohibited — spirituous liquors and Bibles. 
The objection to the sale of Bibles is curious, as he did not 
object to their being brought into the country or given as 
presents. 

A comfortable clay dwelling having been put at the dis- 
posal of Barth and Overweg, they sought to make themselves 
at home, and to become acquainted with the town. Their 
abode consisted of several small but neat rooms, with sur- 
rounding yards and thatched huts, the whole being designated 



BABTH, OVERWEG, AND MICHAMDSOIf. 69 

" the English house ; " the town they found to be much infe- 
rior in population and luxury to Kano. But Lake Tsad (Tchad 
or Ciiad) was the great attraction, and under the care of an 
escort provided by the Yizier they proceeded thither. It was 
the dry season, and the lowlands usually covered with water 
were now grassy meadows. Passing over these, after little 
more tlian half an hour's ride they '•' reached swampy ground, 
and thus came to the margin of a fine open sheet of water, en- 
compassed with papyrus and tall reeds, of from ten to four- 
teen feet in height, of two different kinds, the one called 

* mele,' and the other ' here ' or ' bele.' The thicket was inter- 
woven by a climbing plant with yellow flowers, while on the 
surface w^as a floating plant, called facetiously by the natives, 

* fannavilia-dago ' (the homeless fanna). This creek was called 

* ]S[giruwa.' " 

Coming upon deep water full of grass, they soon reached 
another creek, and sighted two small boats belonging to the 
pirates of the Tsad, small flat-boats, made of the light and nar- 
row wood of the " fego," about twelve feet long, and man- 
aged by two men each. They went onward, startling large 
herds of kelara — a peculiar kind of antelope which is fond of 
the water — and in their progress became immersed so deeply in 
water that they might have drunk of it by stooping down a 
little, though they were on horseback. The draught was not 
tempting, however, for the water was very w^arm and full of 
vegetable matter. It is perfectly fresh. The account which 
is given us of Lake Tsad is deeply interesting. It is a huge 
inland sea, spreading out its placid waters, its banks fringed 
with gigantic reeds, sheltering many hippopotami, with light 
barks floating on its surface, some with gleaming white sails in 
the far distance. The people on the islands build boats of 
twenty feet in length, though narrow. One w^hich accompanied 
Mr. Overweg on a voyage which he made on these waters was 
nearly fifty feet long, although only six and a half wide. Dr. 
Barth says : *' I invariably understood from all the people with 
whom I spoke about this interesting lake, that the open water^ 
with its islands of elevated sandy downs, stretches from the 
mouth of the Sliary towards the western shore, and that all the 
rest of the lake consists of swampy meadow lands, occasionally 
inundated. Indeed, Tsad, or Tsade, is nothing else but an- 
other form for Shary, Shari, or Sari." 

lu May, 1851, Dr. Barth, leaving Overweg to explore Lake 
Tsad in a boat which had been brought in sections overland 
from Tripoli, went on a jom-ney southwards to Adamaue 



to BABTE, OymRWMG, AND BIGJSARDSOW, 

(Adamawa on the map), where he hoped to be able to trace 
the eastern bi^anch of the Niger, and proceeded along a dreary 
country, where the footprints of the giraffe were first visible, 
and in which wild liogs abounded. Farther on there were 
corn-fields, cotton-fields, and, in one instance, a dyeing-place, 
giving proof of a certain amount of industry in the villages, 
which now became numerous. In passing through the border 
country of the Marghi, a pagan tribe, lie was struck with the 
symmetry of the forms and features of the people, who, in 
many instances, had nothing of the JNTegro type. They seemed, 
moreover, a pleasant, good-natured race, whorja it w^as sad to 
see so unmercifully trodden down by their Mohometan 
neighbors. Passing the village of I'sge, the fir&t view of 
Mount Mendefi was- obtained, which, since it was seen by 
Major Denham on his adventurous expedition, has became so 
celebrated, occasioning all sorts of conjectures and theories. 
From a close examination he concludes that it is not the centre 
of any considerable mountain mass, but a detached cone, rising 
from a level plain, and probably of volcanic origin. 

Ten days' journey brought them to the border of Adamaua^ 
and they took up their abode in Miibi, the first village. They 
were accomjnodated by the governor in a spacious and cool 
liut, with a courtyard, and for his courtesy they presented him 
with ten sheets of paper — a gift so munificent to one who, al- 
though claiming to be a man of learning, " had never before 
seen so much writing iriaterial together," that his delight w^as 
unbounded. "When they again set out on their journey, the 
whole village was excited by a marvellous novelty;, but, says 
Earth, naively, ^^the wonder was not ourselves, but our camel." 
Many had never seen one at all, and it was fifteen years since 
the last had passed along this road. The people here are re- 
markably courteous. Ground nuts form a large proportion of 
the food of the inhabitants — as potatoes in Ireland. Corn is 
also grown, and the fields are adorned with the butter-treey 
which is greatl}^ valued. People were everywhere busy in tbe 
fi.elds, and the country altogether presented a pleasant aspect 
of industry. 

A wild and hilly district succeeded, and then they entered 
the village of Sarauri, very neat in the construction of its huts, 
and abundant in its pi^oofs of domestic comfort. The veg-eta- 
tion was rich, and the country was open and pleasant. Forests 
and cultivated ground followed, and then corn-fields, where 
the corn {Pemiisetum) stood already five feet high, and indi- 
cations of watercourses and tracks of the hippopotamus showed 



BABTH, OVEBWEG, AND BIGHARDSON. 71 

that they were approaching the great artery of the country. 
In the immediate neighborhood of the water there were great 
ant-hills, ranged in almost parallel lines ; and in the distance 
was Mount Alantika, a large and isolated mass rising abruptly 
on the east side, and forming a more gradual slope towards the 
west, exhibiting a smooth and broad top, which must be 
spacious, inasmuch as it contains the estates of seven independ- 
ent chiefs. Its height was estimated at between seven thou- 
sand and eight thousand feet. But the principal object of 
interest was the river Benue, which they came upon on the 
18th of June, just where it is joined by the rapid Faro. Barth 
says : — 

" As I looked from the bank over the scene before me, I was 
quite enchanted, although the whole country bore the charac- 
ter of a desolate wilderness ; but there could scarcely be any 
great traces of human industry near the river, as during its 
floods it inundates the whole country on both sides. The 
principal river — the Benue — flowed here from east to west, in 
a broad and majestic course, through an entirely open country, 
from which, only here and there, detaclied mountains started 
forth. The banks on our side rose to twenty feet, while just 
opposite to my station, behind a pointed headland of sand, the 
Faro rushed forth, appearing from this point not mucli inferior 
to the Benue, and coming in a fine sweep from the south-east, 
where it disappeared in the plain, but was traced by me in 
thought upwards to the steep eastern foot of the Alantika. 
The ^ river below the junction keeping the direction of the 
principal branch, but making a slight bend to the north, ran 
alono; the northern foot of Mount B^o-eld, and was there lost to 
the eye, but followed in thought through the mountainous 
region of the Bachama and Zina to Namarruwa, and thence 
along tlie industrious country of Kororefa, till it joined the 
great western river, the Kwara, or Niger, and conjointly with 

it ran towards the great ocean I had now wdth my 

own eyes clearly established the direction and nature of this 
mighty river, and there could no longer be any doubt that this 
river joins the majestic watercourse explored by Messrs. Allen, 
Laird, and Oldfield. Hence I cherish the well-founded con- 
viction that, along this natural high-road, European influence 
and commerce will penetrate into the very heart of the conti- 
nent, and abolish slavery — or rather those infamous slave-hunts 
and religious wars spreading devastation and desolation all 

around The river, where we crossed it, was, at the 

very least, eight hundred yards broad, and in its channel 



72 BARTH, OYEBWEG, AND BICHARBSON, 

generally eleven feet deep, and was liable to rise, nndei 
ordinary circumstances, at times thirty, or even fifty, feet 

higher The second river, the Faro, is stated to come 

from Mount Labul, about seven days' march to the south. It 
was at present about six hundred yards broad, but generally 
not exceeding two feet in deptli ; its current, however, is ex- 
tremely violent. We next entered upon low meadow-land, 
overgrown with tall reed-grass, which, a month later, is en- 
tirely inundated to such a depth that only the crowns of the tall- 
est trees are seen rising above the water, of wliich tliey bore 
unmistakable traces, the highest line thus marked being about 

sixty feet above the present level of the river My 

companions from Adamaua were almost unanimous in repre- 
senting the waters as preserving their highest level for forty 
days, which, according to their accounts, would extend from 
about the 20th of August till the end of September. Tiiis 
statement of mine, made, not from my own experience, but 
from the information of the natives, has been but slightly 
modified by the experience of those eminent men sent out by 
Iler Majesty's government in the Pleiad. That the fall of 
the j'iver, at this point of the junction, begins at the very end 
of September, has been exactly confirmed by these gentle- 
men." 

TJie way, on leaving the river, led through a fine, park-like 
plain, dotted with a few mimosas of middling size, and clear of 
undervv^ood ; and, as the travellers proceeded onward, they came 
upon beautiful views of cultivated country, enlivened by numer- 
ous herds of cattle, with many villages and rich corn-fields. 
JSText comes Mount Bagele, inhabited in its neighborhood, and 
especially in its fastnesses, by tribes which have long main- 
tained their independence — an independence which, it is to be 
feared, has not only already been partly compromised, but 
which is likely to bo further encroached upon. Still passing 
southward through a beautiful country, Earth reached the capi- 
tal of Adamaua — Yola — a large, open place, consisting, with 
few exceptions, of conioal huts, surrounded by spacious court- 
yards, and even by corn-fields, the houses of the governor and 
those of his brothers being alone built of clay. The travellers 
were cordially welcomed, the people crowding round to shake 
liands with the white man. Even the governor was most polite 
and friendly, but positively refused to allow him to proceed. 
Conference and negotiation were vain, and after days spent in 
such unprofitable endeavors, the poor, sick traveller received an 
order to leave the town instantly. Mortified at this unexpected 



N ^ 



\ 



BARTH, OVER WE G, AND RICHARDSON. 73 

failure of his project of journeying farther south, and weak 
from fever, he was lifted on his horse and departed. Tola, 
which was thus the most southerly point of Earth's journey, is 
a new town, with little trade or manufacture. Slavery exists 
both in the town and the surrounding country on an immense 
scale. There are many persons who own more than a thousand 
slaves ! The tribute received yearly by the governor is paid in 
horses, cattle, and slaves, and of that the slave portion is said to 
be live thousand. 

On his return journey the exceeding beauty of the country 
again interested the traveller, as did also the comfort of tlie 
dwellings of the tribes through which he had occasion to pass. 
The customs of these tribes are sometimes curious : for exam- 
ple, tlieir ordeal on the holy granite rock of Kobshi. When two 
parties have come into litigation, each of them takes the cock 
which he thinks best for fighting, and they go together to 
Xobshi. Having arrived at the holy rock, they set their birds 
fighting, and he v/liose cock prevails in the combat is also the 
-manner in the question in litigation. Moreover, the master of 
the defeated bird is punished by the divinity whose anger he 
has thus provoked, and, on returning to the village, he finds 
his hut in fiames. The worship of these tribes is performed 
in holy groves, and, like many others, they venerate their an- 
cestors. The people are of Berber origin, and many customs 
of great antiquity subsist among them. Thus the Kaniiri, 
even in the present day, especially their kings, are called after 
the name of their mother ; and, although they should be Ma- 
hometans, as some of them are, the custom still continues. 
The ancient form of election in respect to the king among the 
people of Eornu seems to lead us back to ancient Egypt. On 
the death of the monarch, three of the most distinguished men 
of the country were appointed to choose a successor from 
among the deceased king's sons. The choice being made, the 
three electors proceeded to the apartment of the sovereign-elect, 
and conducted him in silence to the place in which lay the 
corpse of his deceased father. There; over the body, the 
newly elected king entered into an agreement, sanctioned by 
oath, binding himself to respect the ancient institutions, and 
employ himself for the glory of his country. A similiar 
custom obtains in the province of Miiniyo at the present day. 
Every newly elected Miiniyoma is in duty bound to remain for 
seven days in a cave, hollowed out by nature or b}^ the hand of 
man, in the rock behind the place of sepulchre of the former 
Miiniyoma, in the ancient town of Gammasak, although that 



74 BABTH, OYEBWEQ, AND BIOHARBSON. 

town is quite deserted and does not contain a single inhab- 
itant. 

When Barth drew near to Kiikawa, three appointed horse- 
men met him, and conducted him to his house with all honor. 
The Yizier received him in the presence of a great multitude, 
and kindly condoled with him on his illness. The rainy sea- 
son having now set in, he remained for a time at Kiikawa, and 
then, accompanied by Overweg, made an excursion to Kanem, 
an immense unexplored region lying north-east of Lake Tsad, 
and extending almost to Abyssinia. Keeping along the shores 
of Lake Tsad, he found cotton-fields ; cotton, a little wheat, fish 
from the lake, and the fruit of the " diim palm " being the sole 
produce. Of fish there are several palatable kinds, and among 
them one resembling tlie mullet, eighteen or twenty inches long. 
The electric fish is also found here. While on the shores of the 
lake, he had the good fortune to enjoy one of the most interest- 
ing sights which these regions can possibly afford — a whole herd 
of elephants, arranged in regular array, like an army of rational 
beings, proceeding to the water. They were ninety-six in num- 
ber ; the huge males marched first, the young ones followed 
at a little distance, and in a third line were the females, 
the whole being brought up by ^yq males of immense size. 
These turned to notice the travellers, and threw dust into the 
air as though in defiance, but not being disturbed, they passed 
quietly on. The next zoological experience was not so pleas- 
ant ; this was a large snake hanging in a threatening attitude 
from the branches of a tree. It was shot, and measured 18 
feet 7 inches, its diameter being 5 inches ; it was beautifully 
variegated. Further on they reached the encampment of the 
Welad Sliman, a wild horde, who welcomed them, starting 
from the thicket right and left, firing their muskets, and utter- 
ing the cry, " Ya riyab, ya riyab ! " By and by the whole 
cavalry of the Welad Sliman appeared, drawn up in a line, in 
their best attire, and headed by their chiefs. Riding up to the 
travellers, they saluted them with their pistols in true eastern 
style, and Barth and Overweg were conducted to the encamp- 
ment of these Arab robbers. 

The Welad Sliman are a brave, fierce tribe; originally 
driven from the Syrtis, they have established themselves in 
this border region of Negroland. The travellers, during their 
stay, had full opportunity of learning the sort of life these 
people lived. On the night of their arrival a violent scream- 
ing issued from the women's tents, and it was found that an- 
other robber tribe had made an attack on the camels, killed a 



BABTE, OVERWEG, AMD mCHABDSON. 75 

horseman, and carried away a part of the herd. " To the sad- 
dle ! " was the cry ; the robbers were pursued, and the camels 
retaken ; but the wail of the women over the slain men rang 
mournfully through the night. In a day or two there was a 
fresh cause of disturbance. The handsomest of the female 
slaves, intended for the establishment of the Yizier, had escaped. 
Search was made for her diligently, and at length her neck- 
lace, her clothes, and a few remaining bones showed that she 
had fallen a prey to the wild beasts. Soon after, discord broke 
out among the leaders ; and many of the tribes left, impatient 
of the rule of the young chief. One day, during the season 
of these disturbances, a Zebu chieftain paid a " friendly " visit 
to Dr. Earth, and, before leaving, quietly requested to be ac- 
commodated with a little poison, which was, of course, refused. 
Fortunately, the exliibition of a watch and the wonders of a 
musical-box conciliated the savage. Other f oemeu approached, 
and " To the saddle ! " was as^ain the crv. The travellers, not 
too soon, concluded that it would be wise to proceed on their 
journey, and they hurried through a well-watered country, stop- 
ping at a village where the people kindly welcomed them, 
inquiring about England, and whether the English were 
friendly towards them. The intelligence of these native tribes 
contrasted strongly with that of the VVelad Sliman. The course 
still lay through cultivated districts, date-trees, cotton-fields, 
and corn-fields. Here, again a party of "the covetous Arab 
freebooters " began to indulge in their predatory habits, at the 
expense of the owners of the small fiocks of sheep belonging 
to the neighboring valley. But they were repulsed, and their 
booty was small ; and, as a just retaliation, another plundering 
horde attacked them, and compelled them to abandon their 
whole spoil, and flee for their lives. Finding that a caravan 
was being formed to go to Kukawa, and now satisfied that their 
present mode of travelling was hazardous and comparatively 
useless, Earth and Overweg resolved to return with it, regret- 
ting to leave the eastern shore of Lake Tsad unexplored. 

When they arrived at Kiikawa, they found that there was 
an expedition about to proceed against Mandara, and, desirous 
of visiting as many localities as possible, and of becoming ac- 
quainted with every phase of life in these regions. Earth joined 
it. There was an imposing army, headed by the Sheikh and 
his Yizier. The ostensible object was war against Mandara, 
but the real purpose was to fall upon the unprotected villages 
by the way, and to plunder and burn them, and seize their in- 
habitants for slaves ; this being the ordinary and popular plan 



76 BARTH, OVERWEG, AND RICHABDSON, 

for filling the Slieikh's exclieqner. The slave-rooms of the 
great men were moreover, at the time, remarkably empty. The 
army, on this occasion, consisted of nearly twenty thousand 
men, and it made an imposing appearance. The heavy cavalry 
were clad, some in thick wadded clothing, others in coats of 
mail with their tin helmets glittering in the sun, and mounted 
on large, heavy chargers. . Then the light Shiiwa horsemen, clad 

1 only in a loose shirt, and mounted on mean-looking horses ; the 

slaves decked out in red bernouses, or silks of various colors ; 

I . next, the Kanombu spearmen, with their large wooden shields, 

their aprons, and their strange head-dresses ; while the train of 

I camels and pack-oxen closed the long array, pressing onwards 

I to the unknown regions towards the south-west. 

The progress of this military force was a very melancholy 
spectacle. They marched through luxuriant corn-fields, cutting 
down and carrying off what they chose, and trampling down 
what they left ; lopping off- the branches of the finest trees for 
tent fences, and pursuing and killing every native man they 
could find. Dr. Barth expresses his disgust at joining this ex- 
pedition; but justly remarks that only by this means could he 
ascertain whether the reports of the cruelties in the slave-hunts 
were true or exaggerated, and also whether the unfortunate 
tribes were reall}^ the savages they were represented to be. On 
both of these questions his testimony is most ample and con- 
clusive. So far from being mere savages, the villages of these 
unfortunate tribes bore witness to no small degree of civiliza- 
tion among their inhabitants. The huts were neatly constructed 
of clay, with thatched roofs of various forms, probably indicat- 
ing varieties of rank ; each was neatly enclosed by a clay wall, 
and each had its thatched granary, its cooking-place, and its 
water-jars. Most of the villages were overshadowed by beauti- 
ful trees, and corn and cotton fields — in one instance tobacco 
— and fiocks of sheep and goats, and herds of cattle, showed 
the industry of the people. Another mark of civilization was 
the careful preservation of the dead in regular sepulchres, cov- 

Ij ered in with large, well-rounded vaults, the tops of which 

!! were adorned with a couple of beams, cross-laid, or by an 

earthen urn. The meaning of the cross-beams it is not easy to 
conjecture, but the urn in all probability contains the head of 
the deceased. 

The slave-hunts are described as fearfully barbarous. The 

|] usual mode of proceeding is for large numbers of armed men 

to attack a village, set it on fire, and then seize the flying 
women and children, cutting down the men who resist, or who 



BAETE, OYERWEG, AND RIGHARDSOm 77 

are overtaken in their flight. On one occasion, Earth passed a 
burning village which only a few moments before had been tha 
abode of comfort and happiness ; and at Kakala, one of the 
most considerable villages in the Miisgu country, he found that, 
after some skirmishing, nearly a tliousand slaves were brought 
in. Not fewer than a hundred and seventy full-grown men 
were mercilessly slaughtered in cold blood, the greater part 
of them being allowed to bleed to death, after a leg had been 
severed from the body. 

This expedition, with so large an army, and the destruction 
of so many villages, led to poor results. There were captured 
ten thousand cattle and about three thousand slaves, the greater 
part of the latter being so decrepit that they could scarcely 
walk, and infants and children under eight years old. The 
number of full-grown men was about three hundred. The en- 
couragement of industry and trade is the most likely means of 
suppressing this infamous traffic, and the desire of the natives 
for trade with the Europeans seems to indicate that the time is 
at hand. On the return march, a rather more easterly course 
was taken, and the River Logon was approached. The sur- 
rounding country was found to be extensively cultivated and 
well watered. Both men and women are passionately fond of 
smoking. 

The next journey made by Barth was to the south-eastward, 
to Baghirmi. The traveller, on this occasion, had but one 
horse and a camel, and was attended only by two young lads. 
The comitry traversed was less fertile, the inhabitants less in- 
dustrious, and several towns which were passed were in a con- 
dition of decay. Karnak Logon, the capital of the province 
of Logon, is a place of considerable size, and the palace of the 
Sultan, though of clay, a rather superior building. The Sultan 
granted the traveller an interview, and graciously accepted a 
present of Turkish trousers and some articles of hardware, be- 
ing most of all delighted with a few darning-needles, " for he 
had never seen their like ; " he therefore carefully counted 
them, and assigned them to their respective owners in the 
harem. The only return requested in connection with this 
splendid present was permission to navigate the river, and this 
was at once conceded. The scenery on the banks of the river 
was beautiful. Shortly after having begun his exploration, 
Barth. was startled by the sudden appearance of an old man 
who, with an imperious air, forbade him to survey the river, 
and ordered him to retrace his steps directly. Having had the 
permission of the Sultan, he was naturally confounded. But 



78 BABTH, OVBEWEG, AND PdCHARDSOJUT, 

he was informed that this was the king of the waters, the "mar- 
alegha," and that he had full authority over the river. The 
traveller had known about the authority of the king of the 
river in the regions of the Niger, but was not aware of the 
prevalence of the custom here. There was much talk in the 
town about this desire to survey the river, and, wlien the Yizier 
was appealed to, he was anxious to know if, once embarked in 
a boat, Bartli might not j ump out in search for gold ; when the 
traveller told him be was rather afraid of the crocodiles. This 
considerably alleviated suspicion, for these people had sup- 
posed Europeans to be a sort of supernatural beings, exempt 
from every kind of fear. At eight o'clock the next morning, 
therefore. Earth went on board his boat, and proceeded on his 
expedition. He found along the shore a tall reed, which, as on 
the shores of the Tsad, was the true papyrus, from which the 
natives prepare a kind of cloth. The name Shary signifies 
nothing more specific than '^ the river." 

On this occasion there was no interference by the king of the 
river ; but nearly half the inhabitants of the town had come 
out to see what the Christian was doing. A crocodile having 
raised its head. Earth fired at it, and the crowd burst into loud 
acclamations as if they admired the deed. Eut the notion that 
the stranger was searching for gold was uppermost in their 
minds ; and when, soon afterwards, tempted by the smoothness 
and coolness of the stream, he jumped overboard, there was 
great shouting among them ; but when they saw him come out 
empty-handed, they declared that they had been cheated, for 
they had certainly been told that he v/as searching for gold. 
We are not informed whether any gold was ever found in this 
river; but the unhesitating and general belief of the people 
leaves little room for doubt that there must have been. '' This 
little excursion," says Dr. Earth, " cost me dear, for the people 
of Eaghirmi, seeing me create such an uproar, felt inclined to 
suppose that if I entered their country I might create a dis- 
turbance" there; and their fears and jealousies no doubt led to 
the detentions and annoyances which soon after followed. 
The people of tliis province are not industrious. Still, they are 
neither savage nor totally idle. They cultivate and weave 
cotton, and produce a beautiful kind of lattice- work, while their 
ingenuity is also proved by their ornamental wooden bowls, and 
their productions in designs worked in. straw. Their women 
are said to be very handsome. 

Leaving Kdrnak Logon, the next region was one which had 
never before been trodden by European feet ; and after pro- 



BARTH, OVERWEO, AND BlCHAnVSOIT. 79 

ceeding some distance, there was seen throngli the branches of 
the trees the splendid sheet of a large river, the pellucid sur- 
face of which was nn disturbed by the slightest breeze. This 
was the real Sharj, the great river of the Kokoto, which, aug- 
mented by the smaller but very considerable river of Logon, 
forms the large basin which gives to this part of ISTegroland its 
characteristic feature. Desiring to cross it, Barth was refused 
a passage by the ferry-man. His fame had preceded him ; he 
was said to be a most dangerous person, v/ho might even ruin 
the kingdom of Baghirmi. Resolved not to abandon the ob- 
ject for which he had journeyed so far, he endeavored to cross 
by stealth, and succeeded ; but his movements had been 
watched, and while resting in the shade, the head man in the 
neighboring village came upon him with an armed escort, and 
prohibited his further progress. He remained in the village for 
several days, strongly suspected by the inhabitants. He was 
then sent from one place to another, and when, wearied with 
delays, he sought to return to his starting-point, he was seized 
and put in irons. Ultimately, under the care of a benevolent 
native, he was conducted to Ma-steiia, the capital. In the ab- 
sence of the Saltan, the governor apologized to him for the 
treatment which he had received, and restored to him all that 
had been taken from him. 

After a stay of more than two months, there came the intel- 
ligence that the absent Sultan was really at hand ; and, ere 
long, he appeared in barbaric pomp, preceded by his cavalry, 
mounted himself on his war-horse, shaded with red and green 
umbrellas, fanned by ostrich plumes borne on long poles, and 
followed by the " war camel " bearing the kettle-drums, on 
which the drummer was exerting his utmost skill and strength. 
The royaL household followed, and conspicuous in the proces- 
sion were forty-five female favorites, each mounted on horse- 
back, and dressed in black native cloth, and each having a slave 
on either side. After all the dangers and difficulties of the 
journey it is gratifying to know that it was not fruitless. The 
Sultan, finding that the stranger was not likely to bewitch him, 
willingly gave him all the liberty of exploration which he de- 
sired, furnished him with specimens of the manufactures of the 
country, and promised his protection to any future travellers 
who might visit his dominions. 

Mr. Overweg had, meanwhile, been making an excursion into 
the south-western mountainous regions of Bornn ; and when the 
two travellers met, Barth was alarmed at the sickly look of his 
companion. Days passed j change of scene was procured and 



80 JBAMTR, OVERWEO, AND mCKARDSOX 

other means employed ; but violent fever supervened, delirium 
came on, and, after a few hours of insensibility, he died. His 
sorrowing and desolate friend laid his bodily remains in his grave 
in the afternoon of the same day, beneath the shade of a spread- 
ing tree, " on the very borders of that lake by the navigation of 
which he had made his name celebrated forever." Mr. Over- 
weg had not completed the thirtieth year pf his age. 

fiarth was now alone ; but fresh funds reaching him from the 
English government, he resolved to pursue his explorations, 
sending liis papers to England, with a request that another as- 
sociate should be provided for him, and fixing upon the distant 
kingdom of Timbuctoo as his destination. He left Kukawa 
November 25th, 1852, with five servants, four camels, as many 
horses, and goods for presents worth $200. This time, the 
journey w^as to the north-west. The party, pressing forward in a 
leisurely way through a well-settled region, reached Sackatoo 
in April, 1853, and Timbuctoo, the capital of the kingdom of 
Timbuctoo, on September 7th of the same year. Here Barth 
was detained as a prisoner for seven montlis, and for nearly two 
years he was prevented from returning to Kukawa by wars 
among the chieftains on the route, and by tlie hostility mani- 
fested towards him by the Yizier of Bornu. This rapacious 
prince forwarded to Europe the report that the traveller had 
died, hoping that such would soon be the case, and that thas the 
supplies of the expedition would fall into his own hands ; but 
civil commotions arising, the Yizier was deposed, and Barth 
was protected by the Sheik of Timbuctoo, who furnished him 
with an escort as far back as Sackatoo. During his stay in 
Timbuctoo he succeeded in exploring the middle course of 
the Kwara, or Niger, which had never before been done b}^ any 
European except Mungo Park, whose journals perished with 
him. He also discovered Gando and llamd-Allahi, two con- 
siderable kingdoms the existence of which had been previously 
unknown ; and touched upon the eastern border of Segu. 
On October 17th, 1854, he reached the city of Kano, where he 
found himself in such a destitute condition that he had to pay 
100 per cent, interest for a small loan. 

In the meantime efforts were making to relieve him. Ed- 
ward Yogel, a Grerman employed as an assistant to the British 
royal astronomer, volunteered to go in search of him, and left 
England accompanied by a company of sappers and miners. 
At Tripoli he was joined by a Mr. Warrington, son of the Brit- 
ish consul at that place. They reached Kukawa in Decem- 
ber, 1853. Here Warrington died ; but Yogel, having learned 



ASRANTEE. 81 

that Bartli was still alive, pushed into the interior, and found 
him at Kano on the 1st of December, 1854. 

Having wintered at Kukawa, Barth started for home in the 
spring of 1855, and reached Marseilles on September 8th, after 
an absence from Europe of nearly six years. His account of 
his explorations, which was published simultaneously in English 
and German, is heavy and diffuse in style, but is, nevertheless, 
the most valuable book of African travel that has appeared. 



Dr. Earth's travels were nearer to the territory of Ashantee 
than any others which are narrated in detail in these pages ; 
and as the late war waged by the British against that kingdom 
has awakened considerable interest regarding it, this seems tlie 
proper place to introduce a few statements in respect to it. 

Ashantee, or Ashanti, is an extensive native kingdom lying 
along the Gold Coast of Guinea, and extending from lat. 4° 37' 
to 10° I^., and from long. 4° 48' W. to 1° 10' E. from Green- 
wich. It is therefore about two hundred and eighty miles in 
length and as many in breadth. It is a mountainous countrj^, 
but the eminences are not abrupt or precipitous. It does not 
lie in any of the basins of the great African rivers, but it is well 
watered. Along the coast there are the embouchures of sev- 
eral large streams, the various affluents of which intersect the 
country in every direction. The Asinee is a considerable 
stream which is usually reckoned the line of separation be- 
tween the Gold and Ivory coasts ; and it forms, for some miles 
from its mouth, the western limit of Ashantee. The Yolta, or 
Asweda, is the largest of the Ashantee rivers, and it runs into 
the sea in 30' E. long. Its length is estimated at about four 
hundred miles. There are several lakes, which, in the rainy 
season, frequently overflow their boundaries. 

The heat and unhealthiness of the coast of Guinea are well 
known. This is owing largely to the scorching days followed 
by chilly nights, but more particularly to a sulphureous mist 
which rises from the valleys and the neighborhood of rivers in 
tlie mornings, especially during the rainy season. The interior 
of the country is more healthy. Like other tropical territoiios, 
Ashantee has its dry and rainy seasons, or rather one dry and 
two rainy seasons in each year. The flrst rains, ushered in by 
violent tornadoes, occur about the latter end of May or the begin- 
ning of Jnne. These are followed b}^ fogs and haziness, wliicli 
are extremely noxious at all times, but are at their worst in July 



82 ASBANTEE. 

and August. The second rains come on in October, and after 
tlicm is the dry and hot season, which continues till April. 

Elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, buffaloes, deer, antelopes, 
goats, apes, monkej's, and baboons are among the harmless kinds 
of anhnals ; but there are also lions, tigers, leopards, jackals, 
wolves, and wild boars among those of a ferocious sort. The 
rivers swarm with hippopotami and alligators ; and serpents, 
scorpions, and lizards are numerous. 

Bowdich, who has written the best work on Ashantee, esti- 
mates the population of Ashantee proper at one million ; and 
the whole empire, including the territories which submit to the 
rule of the kiug of Ashantee, at three millions. 

The men are well made, and free to a considerable extent 
from the peculiarities of the negro form and feature, and the 
women are said to be comely. Both sexes are cleanly, washing 
from head to foot every day, and afterward anointing them- 
selves with the grease of the shea, or butter-tree, which is a 
good cosmetic, and preservative of the skin in so hot a climate. 

The clothes of the better class consist of immense cloaks, 
sometimes made of the most costly silks. The war-dress sub- 
stitutes for this a close vest, covered with metal ornaments and 
scraps of Moorish writing, as spells against danger, loose cotton 
drawers, and large boots of dull red leather. The superior 
chiefs have gold breastplates ; and all who can procure them 
wear gold ornaments in profusion. 

Bosnian enumerates -Q.\e degrees or orders of society, — the 
king, the caboceers, the gentry, the traders, and the slaves ; but 
besides the king there is, in fact, but one distinction of any 
consequence, that between slave and freeman. The caboceers, 
or magistrates of towns and villages, are taken indiscriminately 
from the gentry; and these, again, are merely such as have en- 
riched themselves by trade or inheritance, and who, not unfre- 
quently, were born slaves. The occupations of trade are prac- 
tised alike bj^ the poorer freemen and the better class of slaves. 
The intercourse between the sexes is on the worst possible foot- 
ing. Marriage is effected by the payment of a sum of money 
to the parents of the bride, and by a family feast. There are 
certain forms to be gone through, but this is the substance of 
tlie contract. Polygamy is not only legal, but may be consid- 
ered the special institution of Ashantee. The importance of a 
man is measured by the number of his wives ; for these are the 
cheapest laborers. The king, it is said, is limited to 3,333 
wives, who are scattered durino; the workin^^ season over his 
numerous plantations. While at home, in the capital, they 



A8HANTEE. S3 

occupy two streets, where thej are secluded from all but the 
king and his female relations — any other person who looks upon 
one of them, even by accident, is punished with death. 

Well-stocked and well-regulated markets are held in the 
towns, for the supply of the necessaries of life, and for Euro- 
pean manufactures. The poorer classes live almost exclusively 
on tish and dhomrah. The common drink is palm wine. 

At all festivals and public occasions the most brutal excesses 
and cruelties are practised. Rum and palm wine are swallowed 
like w^ater, till a state of mad intoxication is induced, in which 
hundreds of human victims ai'e sacrificed. The death of a free 
person is almost always attended by the slaughter of a human 
being, to " wet the grave ; " and that of a chief invariably 
causes a frightful saci'ilice of life. If a man of ordinary rank 
marry a royal female, he must be killed on his wife's grave, if 
he should survive her; and the oci'as, or personal attendants on 
the king, are all murdered on their master's grave, together with 
many others, male and female, often amounting to several thou- 
sands. 

The labor of clearing away obstructions in a railkly luxuriant 
soil is the chief employment of the Ashantee agriculturist ; and 
in this his chief instrument is fire ; by means of which he both 
clears the ground and spreads a mass of rich manure upon th^ 
soil. The only implement in use is a rude hoe ; but this is suf- 
ficient in productive grounds, flooded twice a year, to produce 
two crops of most kinds of corn, and an abundant supply of 
yams and rice. The plantations are laid out with considerable 
regularity, and the cultivated grounds are somewhat extensive, 
though not adequate to the wants of the consumers. Though 
they do not smelt metals, the Ashantees, like some others of the 
African nations, have blacksmiths and goldsmiths of a grade 
superior to what might be expected. The fineness, variety, and 
brilliance of the native cloths would not disgrace an English 
loom. They have also dyers, potters, tanners, and carpenters. 
Of the handiwork of the Ashantees there are not a few speci- 
mens to be seen in Case 6 in the Ethnological Room of the 
British Museum. 

Before the dominion of the Ashantee king extended so far, 
there were various forms of govermnent among the people over 
whom he now bears rule — some, as Fantee and Mina, being 
republics ; while others, and by far the larger luimber, were 
despotisms. Kow, all are alike brought under the Ashantee 
constitution — the legislative power of which lies professedly in 
the king, an aristocracy consisting of only four persons, and the 



S4: ASHAWTMM. 

assembly of eaboceers or captains. The aristocracy was for- 
merly much more iiuraerous, but the number has been grad- 
ually reduced by uniting the stool or seat of authority of a de- 
ceased noble to that of one still living, till the present result 
has been arrived at. On all que&tions of foreign policy the 
aristocracy has nominally a voice equal to the king's, extending 
even to a veto on his decisions ; but the strong will of the chief 
ruler always bears down opposition to his personal policy. The 
present king, Koffee, is about thirty-five years of age. Ilis 
mother is the rightful lieir to the throne, and he is much under 
Jier influence. 

The laws are especially sanguinar}^ including death in cruel 
forms and mutilation. The aristocracy are exempt from cap- 
ital punishment, but they may be despoiled. The king's family 
are not, however, exempted from the punishment of death ; 
but their blood must not be shed. If this punishment be 
awarded them, they are drowned in the Dah. 

The public revenue, so far as can be ascertained, consists of 
— 1st. The gold of deceased persons, and the goods of all kinds 
which may belong to disgraced nobles ; 2d. A tax on slaves 
purchased for the coast ; 3d. The gold mines and washings 
in Sokoo, Dinkra, Akim, and Assin ; 4th. The washings of the 
market-place ; and 5th. Tributes from conquered states. The 
king is the great property-owner, and is the legal heir of all his 
Srubjects.. 

Of religion they may be said to have really none. Along the 
whole of the Gold Coast, including Ashantee, it is believed 
that the Great Spirit,, after creating three white and as many 
black men and women, placed before them a large calabash 
and a sealed paper, giving to the black race the choice of the 
two. They took the calabash, which contained gold, iron, and 
the choicest productions of the earth ; but left them in igno- 
rance of their use and aj^plication. The paper, on the con- 
trary, instructed the white man in everything ; made him the 
favorite of the Great Spirit, and gave him that superiority 
which the negroes readily aclaiowledge. From this legend it 
appears that these people have among them some lingering no- 
tion of one Supreme Deity y but they liave, notwithstanding, 
lapsed into the absurdities of fetichism, or the lowest and 
grossest forms of idolatry. The}' have an evil principle of 
whom they stand in dread ; and one of the most solemn cere- 
monies of many tribes is an assembly of men, women, and chil- 
dren, for the purpose of driving the evil spirit from the towns 
and villages. They have no intelligent belief in the future state 



A8EANTEE. 85 

— kings, priests, and caboceers being believed, after deatli, to re- 
side with the Great Spirit in an eternal renewal of their earthly 
state ; the sacrifice of so many human beings on the graves 
of their kings being intended to supply them with attendants 
in the other world. The victims, it is affirmed, are not always 
unwilling, since tliey believe that they will thus partake of the 
superior heaven of their chiefs — their own being at best merely 
a release from labor in the house of some inferior fetich. A 
large number of charms, omens, Incl^y and unlucky days, and 
an implicit submission to the fetich, complete the superstition 
of the Ashantees. There are many Mahometans among the 
Ashantees, some, by their lighter complexion, being manifestly 
of Arabic origin, while the majority are not distingnishable 
from other negroes. Christian missionaries are discouraged; 
and even when any of their number have proceeded to Coo- 
massie to intercede with the king on behalf oi persons doomed 
to die, it has been at the imminent risk of their own lives. 
Several members of the Easle mission were imprisoned, although 
they went as traders. 

the early history of the Ashantee nation is obscure, as might 
be supposed ; but in 1640 they seem to have been located in 
the midst of their present possessions, and occasionally exer- 
cising an influence over the surrounding states of Akim, Assin, 
Quahou, and A key a. For nearly a century later, the paramount 
state in the gold countries was Dinkra. At about that time 
Dinkra was conquered, and thereafter the extension of Ashan- 
tee proceeded rapidly. One by one the different states between 
Yolta and Asinee were subdued ; and in 1807, the invasion of 
Fantee brought the Ashantees into collision with the British. 
Cape Coast Castle, the principal fort of the British on the Gold 
coast, was in the Fantee country, and held, like the other 
European forts upon that coast, not as a territorial right, but at 
a rent from the native government. After the conquest the 
rent was claimed, and paid to the King of Ashantee ; but some 
difficulty having occurred as to the recognition of his sover- 
eignty, two embassies (those of Bowdich and Dupuis) were sent 
to the court of Coomassie. These resulted in a treaty in 
1820 ; but the Ashantees were not faithful to their engage- 
ments, and upon remonstrance being made they declared war 
against the British, and in January, 1824, totally defeated the 
governor of Cape Coast, at the head of one thousand men. 
In 1826 the Ashantees suffered a decisive defeat from the 
English, and another treaty was entered into. In 1831 a treaty 
was signed, by means of which the King of Ashantee was com- 



Se ASHANTEE. 

pelled to acknowledge the independence of the Fantees and 
other tribes under British protection. 

But there have been perpetual heart-burnings ever since, and 
finally these resulted in the recent war, the causes of wliich 
were irtanifold. Among them may be enumerated the con- 
stant disregard by the Ashantees of the treaties formed with 
neighboring states which are under British protection ; the re- 
sentment on the part of the Ashantees of British interference 
with their slave-trade ; insult, robbery, and death inflicted by 
the Ashantees on persons trading with or at the British settle- 
ment at Cape Coast ; and the resort of the Ashantees to arms 
against the English. 

In the war lately terminated, the Ashantean army, no despic- 
able foe, was routed and dispersed, and the power of the king- 
dom absolutely broken. The capital and the palace were 
burnt ; and the king, KofFee Kalkalli, after much cunning and 
duplicity, submitted and sued for peace. Part of an indemnity 
of $1,000,000 has already been paid ; and a promise is made that 
human sacrifices shall ])e abolished, the slave-trade discontin- 
ued, and honest commerce protected. If these promises could 
be actually carried out the world would have reason to con- 
gratulate itself on Sir Garnet Wolseley's success ; but as lias 
always been the case in Africa, the defeat of a native king 
and the humbling of the central power means political disor- 
ganization and ruin. The subject tribes are said to be already 
thi'owing off their allegiance to King Koffee ; and a few years 
will probably see the Ashantee kingdom resolved once more 
into the petty chieftainships out of which it rose, and to which 
it seemed to offer a future containing something like prog- 
ress. 



CHAPTER YL 

LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 

David Livingstone was born at Blantyi*e, near Glasgow, 
Scotland, about 1817. His father was a small tea-dealer in that 
village, a village entirel}^ dependent on extensive cotton mann- 
factories belonging to the firm of Monteith and Company. His 
grandfather had been a clerk in the works, having removed to 
the lowlands from Ulva, in the Hebrides, where he and his an- 
cestors had for many generations been farmers. The subject 
of the present notice, and the other members of the family to 
which he belonged, were educated in connection with the Kirk 
of Scotland ; but their father afterwards left it, and during the 
last twenty years of his life held the office of deacon in an In- 
dependent church in the neighboring town of Hamilton. He 
died in 1856, while his famous son was on his way below 
Zumbo, in the interior of Africa, expecting no greater pleasure 
on his return home, than sitting by the old cottage fire and re- 
citing his adventures to his parents. His mother was a pious 
woman, industrious and careful, and possessed of much sterling 
common-sense ; she won the respect of all who kne'^v her. 

At the age of ten David was put into the factory as a 
"piecer," to aid by his earnings in supporting the family. 
With part of his first week's wages he purchased a copy of 
Ruddiman's " Rudiments of Latin," a class-book at that time, 
and long afterwards extensively used in Scotland. He prose- 
cuted his study of the language for several years with unabated 
ardor at an evening school in the village, which met between 
the hours of eight and ten. The dictionary part of his labor 
was -continued till twelve o'clock. He had to be in the factory 
by six in the morning, and to continue at his work, with inter- 
vals for breakfast and dinner, till eight o'clock at night. In 
this way he read many classic authors. Great pains had been 
taken by his parents to instil the doctrines of Christianity into 
his mind, and at an early age he resolved to devote himself to 
the missionary life. Turning this idea over in his mind, he 
felt that to be a pioneer of Chi'istianity in Cliina might help to 
benefit some small portion of that immense empire ; and there- 



88 LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 

fore he set himself to obtain a medical education, a knowledge of 
medicine being an almost indispensable qualification for mis> 
sionary success among the Chinese. Limited as his time was, he 
found opportunities of botanizing for miles around his home, and 
soon became acquainted with most of the plants of Lanarkshire. 

Li his nineteenth year, he was promoted, in the factory, to 
" a pair of wheels," i.e., he became a spinner. The work was 
hard for a slim, loose-jointed lad, but it was well paid for, and 
it enabled him to support himself while attending medical 
classes at the Universit}^, and also divinity lectures at a theo- 
logical hall by Dr. Wardlaw, both in Glasgow. He worked 
with his hands in summer, and was a regular student in both 
of these branches in winter. He never received a farthing of 
aid from any one, and would have accomplished his purpose of 
qualifying himself for going to China as a missionary entirely 
by his own efforts, had not some friends advised him to join 
the London Missionary Society as a student preparing for mis- 
sion-work. That Society sends to the heathen " neither episco- 
pacy, nor presby terianism, nor independency, but the Gospel ; " 
and as this exactly agreed with his own idea of what a Mis- 
sionary Society ought to do, he offered himself, and was ac- 
cepted. He was nov/ at liberty to devote himself wholly to 
such studies as might prepare him for his desired and intended 
future. While engaged in manual labor he was accustomed 
to carry forward his reading by placing a book on a portion 
of the spinning-jenny, so that he could catch sentence after sen- 
tence as he passed at his work. He passed his examination 
with credit, and was admitted a Licentiate of the Faculty of 
Physicians and Surgeons at Glasgow. 

But though now qualified for his original plan, the opium 
war was raging, and it was not deemed expedient that he 
should proceed to China. He had hoped to gain admission 
into that empire, then closed against Europeans, by means of 
the healing art; but there being no prospect of an early peace 
with the Chinese, and, as another inviting field was presenting 
itself by means of the labors of Mr. Mofi'at, he was induced 
to turn his thoughts to Africa; and, after a more extended 
course of theoloo:ical trainins; in Enojland, he embarked for 
Africa in 1840, and, after a voyage of three months, reached 
Cape Town. He spent but a short time there, and started for 
the interior, going round by the Algoa Bay, and for the follow- 
ing sixteen years of his life, viz., from 1840 to 1856, labored 
in medical and missionary efforts for the good of the people, 
without cost to any of them. 



LIVINGSTONE'S EAULIER JOURNEYS, 89 

The instructions which Livingstone had received from the 
Directors of the London Missionary Society led him, as soon as 
he had reached Kuniman, the farthest inland station of the 
Society, to turn his attention to the north. Waiting only to re- 
cruit the oxen, ho ])roceeded, along with another missionary, to 
the Bakuena, or Bakwain, country, and found Sechele, with his 
tribe, located at Shokuane. The objects he had in view were 
not to be accomplished by a mere visit like this ; he therefore 
returned to Kuruman, that he might prepare for going onwards 
into tlie interior. lie remained three months at Kuruman, and 
then proceeded to a place about lif teen miles south of Shokuane, 
called Lepelole (now Litubaruba). Here, in order to familiarize 
himself with the lans^uao^e, he shut himself out from all Euro- 
pean society for about six months, and obtained by this means 
much knowledge of the habits, modes of thought, laws, and 
lano^iiaGfe of that section of the Bechuanas, or Bakwains — knowl- 
edge wliich was of incalculable use to him during all his sub- 
sequent calmer. In this second journey to Lepelole he began 
preparations for a settlement, by making a canal to irrigate the 
gardens, from a stream at that time flow^ing copiously. Re- 
turning to Kuruman, in order to bring his baggage to the pro- 
posed settlement, he was followed by the news that the tribe 
of Bakwains, who had shown themselves so friendly to him, 
had been driven from Lepelole, during his absence, by the Baro- 
longs, so that his project of settling here was at an end. He 
was obliged to start again in search of a suitable locality for a 
mission station, and ultimately selected the beautiful valley of 
Mabotsa (lat. 25° 14' S., long. 26° 30' E.) as the site of his fu- 
ture home and work ; and thither he removed in 1843. 

The people here were much troubled by lions, and, soon aftei 
his settlement among them, he went out with a party of the 
natives, in search of these dangerous animals, that he might 
encourage them to rid themselves, if possible, of their unwel- 
come visits to the village and to the cattle kraals. His humane 
and benevolent willingness to befriend and help those among 
whom he was living almost cost him his life. 

" We found the lions," he says, " on a small hill about a quarter 
of a mile in length, and covered with trees. A circle of men 
was formed round it, and they gradually closed up, ascending 
pretty near to each other. Being down below on the plain 
with a native schoolmaster, nam-ed Mebalwe, a most excellent 
man, I saw one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within 
the now closed circle of men. Mebalwe fired at him before J 
couldj and the ball struck the rock on which the animal was 



90 LlVmaSTONE'S EARLIER JOURSEYS. 

sittting. He bit at the spot struck, as a dog does at a stick or 
stone thrown at him ; then leaping away, broke through the 
opening circle, and escaped nnhiirt. The men were afraid to 
attack him, perhaps on account of their belief in witchcraft. 
When the circle was reformed, we saw two other lions in it ; 
but we were afraid to fire lest we should strike the men, and 
they allowed the beasts to burst through also. If the Bakatla 
had acted according to the custom of the country, they would 
have speared the lions in their attempt to get out. Seeing we 
could not get them to kill one of the lions, we bent our foot- 
steps toward the village ; in going round the end of the hill, 
however, I saw one of the beasts sitting on a piece of rock as 
before, but this time he had a little bush in front. Being 
about thirty yards off, I took a good aim at his body through 
the bush, and fired both barrels into it. The men then called 
out, ' He is shot, he is shot ! ' Others cried, ' He has been shot 
by another man too ; let us go to him ! ' I did not see any one 
else shoot at him, but I saw the lion's tail erected in anger be- 
hind the bush, and, turning to the people, said, ' Stop a little, 
till I load a2:ain.' When in the act of ramminoj down the 
bullets, I heard a shout. Starting, and looking half round, I 
saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon 
a little height ; he caught my shoulder as he sprang, and both 
came to 'the ground below together. Growling horribly close 
to my ear, he shook me as a teri-ier-dog does a rat. The shock 
produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a 
mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of 
dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of 
terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. It 
was like what patients partially under the infiuence of chloro- 
form describe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. 
This singular condition was not the result of any mental pro- 
cess. The shake annihilated fear, and allowed no sense of 
horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar state is 
probably produced in all animals killed by the carnivora ; and 
if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent Creator for 
lessening the pain of death. Turning round to relieve mxyself 
of the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, I 
saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, who was trying to shoot him 
at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, 
missed fire in both barrels; the lion immediately left me, and, 
attacking Mebalwe, bit his thigh. Another man, whose life I 
had saved before, after he had been tossed b}^ a buffalo, at- 
tempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He 




LIVINGSTONE UNDER THE LION. 



LIVINGSTONE'S EAELIER JOURNEYS, 



91 



left Mebalwe and canght tins man by the shoulder, but at that 
moment the bullets he had received took effect, and lie fell down 
dead. The whole was the work of a few moments, and ranst have 
been his paroxysms of dying rage. In order to take out the 
charm from liim, tlie Bakatla on the following day made a huge 
bonfire over the carcass, which was declared to be that of the larg- 
est lion they had ever seen. Besides crunching the bone into spl in- 
ters, he left eleven teetli wounds on the npper part of my arm." 

The wound from this encounter soon healed, though to the 
end of his life Livingstone occasionally felt the effects of the 
gnawing then received. 

He now attached himself to the tribe called Bakuena, or 
Bakwains, their chief Sechele then living with his people, as 
has been said, at a place called Shokuane. From the first he 
was struck with this 
man's intelligence, and 
the missionary and the 
chief were mutually 
di*awn to each other, and 
began a friendship which 
years only more strongly 
confirmed. Tliis remark- 
able man afterwards em- 
braced Christianity, and 
became a useful ex- 
pounder of its doctrines 
to his people. 

The place in which he 
was first settled with the 
Back wains is called 
Chonuane, and it hap- 
pened that during the 
first year of his residence 
there it was visited with 
one of those droughts 
which occur from time to time in even the most favored districts 
of Africa. This, by the absence of both men and women in 
search of food as well as water, greatly interfered with the suc- 
cess of the mission. Another aclvei'se influence was the vicinity 
of the Boers of the Cashan Mountains. These are not to be 
confounded with the Cape Colonists, who sometimes pass by 
the same name. The word Boer simply means farmer; but the 
])ec)ple now referred to were persons who had, on various pre- 
texts, flicd from Englis-h law^ and who had been joined by Eng- 




&ECKELB, CHIEF OP THE BAKUENA. 



92 LlVmt^STOJ^E'S EARLIER JOURNETS. 

lish deserters, and every other variety of bad character, in their 
distant localities. These people attacked the surrounding 
tribes, and made slaves of as many as they could capture, pre- 
ferring the young. 

The chief Sechele, notwithstanding his intelligence and 
superiority in many respects, had himself been a noted rain- 
maker, lie often assured the missionary, afterwards, that he 
had found it more difficult to give up his faith in that than in 
anything else which Christianity required him to abjure. But 
rain would not fall at Chonuane, and the people believed that 
the missionary had bound Sechele by some magic spell ; he 
was accordingly visited by deputations in the evenings, — old 
counsellors entreating him to allow Sechele to make only a few 
showers, and saying, " The corn will die if you refuse, and we 
shall become scattered. Only let him make I'ain this once, and 
WG shall all, men, women, and children, come to the school and 
sing and pray as long as 3^ou please." It was distressing to 
appear haixil-hearted to them ; but there was no help for it. 
The Bakwains believed that thei*e must be some connection be- 
tween the presence of " God's Word " in their town and these 
successive and distressing droughts, and they looked with no 
good- will at the church -bell, but still they invariably treated 
the strangers with kindness. Livingstone says : " I am not 
aware of ever having had an enemy in the tribe. The only 
avowed cause of dislike was expressed by a very influential and 
sensible man, the uncle of Sechele. ' We like you as well as * 
if you had been born among us ; you are the only white man 
we can become familiar with (thoaela) ; but we wish you to 
give up that everlasting preaching and praying ; we cannot be- 
come familiar with that at all. You see we never get rain, 
while those tribes who never pray as we do obtain abundance.' 
This was a fact ; and we often sav/ it raining on the hills ten 
miles off, while it would not look at us ' even with one eye.' If 
the prince of the power of the air had no hand in scorching us 
up, I fear I often gave him the credit of doing so." 

Livingstone pointed out to the chief that the only feasible way 
of watering the gardens was to select some never-failing river, 
make a canal, and irrigate the adjacent lands. This suggestion 
was adopted, and the whole tribe moved to the Kolobeng, a 
stream about forty miles distant. The experiment succeeded 
admirably for the first year. The Bakwains made the canal 
and dam in exchange for the missionary's labor in assisting to 
build a square house for their chief. They also built their own 
school under his superintendence. The missionary's house at 



LIVINGSTONE'S EABLIEU JOURNEYS. 9S 

Kolobeng was the third which Livingstone had reared with his 
own hands. A native smith had taught him to weld iron ; and 
having improved by scraps of information in that line from 
Mr. Moffat, and also in carpentering and gardening, he was be- 
coming handy at almost any trade, besides doctoring and 
preaching; and as his wife could make candles, soap, and 
clothes, they may be considered to have possessed between them 
the indispensable accomplishments of a missionary famil}^ in 
Central Africa — namely, the husband to be a Jack-of-all-trades 
without doors, and the wife a maid-of -all-work within. 

But in the second year no rain fell; and in the third the 
same extraordinary drought continued. The same difficulties 
which had formerly retarded the mission were again experi- 
enced; and the mission family itself was dependent for sup- 
plies of corn on Kuruman, and sometimes were at the point of 
starvation. 

In trying to benefit the tribes of the Cashan Mountains, 
Livingstone had twice performed a journey of about three 
hundred miles to the eastward of Kolobeng. He now desired 
to visit the tribes farther into the interior. 

The exact position of the Lake Ngami had, for at least half 
a centur}^ been correctly pointed out by the natives, who had 
visited it when rains were more copious in the desert than they 
have been in recent times. It was clear that the only chance 
of reaching it, therefore, was by going round the Desert rather 
than crossing it. He communicated his purpose to Colonel 
Steele, then at Madras, who in turn made it known to Mr. Yardon 
and Mr. Oswell, whose friendship he (Livingstone) had gained 
during their African travels and hunting. Mr. Oswell deter- 
mined to accompan}^ him. Livingstone had previously arranged 
to pay for his guides by the loan of his wagon to Sechele, and by 
the bringing back of whatever ivory he might obtain from the 
chief at the lake. When Mr. Oswell arrived, bringing Mr. 
Murray with him, he undertook to defray the entire expenses 
of the guides, which he generously did. The Kalahari Desert 
extends from the Orange Kiver in the south, lat. 29°, to Lake 
Ngarai, and from about 24° east Ion. to near the west coast. 
Large spaces of it are well covered with vegetation. It is very 
flat; and prodigious herds of certain antelopes which require 
little or no water roam over the trackless plains. The inhabi- 
tants are Bushmen, or Hottentots, and Bakalahari. 

Livingstone, accompanied by Messrs. Oswell and Murray, ( 

started for the Lake Ngami on the 1st of June, 1849. Pro- \ 

ceediug northwards, they passed through a range of tree* \ 



94 LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 

covered liills to Shoknane, formerly the residence of the Bak- 
wains, and soon afterwards entered on the ronte to the Bamang- 
wato Mountains. The adjacent conntry is flat, but covered 
with vegetation; the trees generallj^ being a kind of acacia. 
The soil is sandy. Boatlanama, the next station, is a beautiful 
spot, in a region generally dry. The wells are deep, but they 
were well filled. There are near tJiem a few villages of Baka- 
lahari. 

Lopepe comes next. At Mashiie there is a never-failing sup- 
pi}^ of water ; while at Lopepe, the station before it, the coun- 
try appears to become graduallj^ drier every season. Leaving 
the ordinary track, and striking away into the desert, there is a 
well called Lobotani, about N.\V. of Bamanorwato, and bevond 
it at some distance a real Kalaliari fountain, called Serotli. 
The country around is covered with trees. The soil is sandy, 
and water requires to be dug for — but the digging usually suc- 
ceeds. The Bakalahari get all their supplies of w^ater by this 
means. 

Shortly after entering the desert, seventeen of the oxen be- 
longing to its expedition ran away, and went right into the 
hands of the chief Sekomi, who was unfriendly to Livingstone's 
enterprise, inasmuch as he wished to monopolize, to his own ad- 
vantage, the trade in ivory with Sebituane's country, which the 
travellers meant to see. lie sent back the oxen, however, 
though with a message still dissuading them. Their guide was 
Ramotobi, who had fled from Sekomi's tribe, and taken refuge 
with Sechele. Fugitives are usually well received. Around 
Serotli the country is perfectly flat, and the whole scene is char- 
acterized by a monotonous sameness. Oswell and Murray, on 
one occasion, went out to get an eland ; and although one of 
the Bakalahari was with them, there were so few distinguishing 
way-marks that tliey completely lost themselves, and did not 
regain the wagons until next day. 

Travelling in this locality, in the soft white sand, is most trying 
both to man and beast. Thirst especially is most distressing to 
the cattle ; therefore, to save the horses, Murray with a few men 
took them forward, that they might sooner have water, while 
Livingstone and Oswell brought on the wagons. The oxen 
suffered terribly, but by and by water was reached — a pool of 
rain-water. The poor cattle rushed in till they were up to the 
throat, and drank with enjoyment till their collapsed sides dis- 
tended as if they would burst. This pool is called Mathuluani. 

The highway from this point is the dry bed of the river Mo- 
koko. 1^0 more thirst is now to be feared. The first palmyra 



LIVmOSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 



palms which our travellers 
had seen were here. They 
were in a clump, and twen- 
ty-six in number. The an- 
cient Mokoko must have 
been joined, in former 
times, by other rivers, for 
its bed becomes very broad 
below this, and ultimately 
spreads out into a very large 
lake, of which the Lake 
Ngami formed only a part. 

Leaving the Mokoko, the 
travellers found at a dis- 
tance of eight miles a foun- 
tain called Nchokotsa, — 
near which there is a large 
number of salt-pans, cov- 
ered with an efflorescence 
of lime. The mirage over 
these is frequently marvel- 
lous. Not a particle of 
imagination is necessary 
for realizing the picture of 
large bodies of water. Even 
the cattle, horses, dogs, and 
Hottentots ran off to the 
deceitful pools. 

On the 4:th of July, Liv- 
ingstone and Oswell went 
forward on horseback tow- 
ards what they supposed to 
be the lake, but were dis- 
appointed ; but by and by 
they came to the veritable 
waters of the Zonga, and 
found it to be a consider- 
able river running to the 'N. 
E. A vil lage of Eakur utse 
lay on the opposite bank. 
The people were friendly, 
and informed them that 
this water came out of the 
It mio-ht be 



Ngami. 




a 



PALMYRA PALM. 



96. LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 

moon, they said, before they should reach it ; but they had 
the River Zouga at their feet, and by following it they should 
at last reach the broad water. 

"When they had travelled up the bank of this beautiful river 
about ninety-six miles from the point at which they had first 
struck it, and understood that they were still a considerable dis- 
tance from the lake, they left all their oxen and wagons — ex- 
cept Mr. Oswell's, which was the smallest, and one team — at 
Ngabisane, that they might be recruited for the home journey, 
while they themselves made a push for their destination. They 
were received in a friendly spirit by the Bakoba, who call 
themselves Bayeiye, as they proceeded on their way. These 
people never fight, and their peaceful disposition has been 
taken advantage of by all the hordes living around them. 
Living as they do on the banks of the river, the Bakoba or 
Bayeiye make extensive use of canoes, and those canoes are 
craft of a most peculiar description : they are hollowed out of 
the trunks of single trees by means of iron adzes ; and if the 
tree has a bend, so has the canoe. The men are very fond of 
their canoes, and spend much of their time in them. They 
say, " On land you have lions, serpents, hyenas, and your ene- 
mies ; but in your canoe, nothing can harm you." They there- 
fore prefer sleeping in them. 

While ascending this beautifully wooded river, the party 
came to a large stream flowing into it. This was the river 
Tamunak'le. Livingstone, being in one of the canoes, prefer- 
ring that mode of travelling, inquired whence it came. " Oh, 
from a country full of rivers — so many no can tell their num- 
ber — and full of large trees ! " The country beyond was thus 
seen not to be the great sandy flat of the ancient maps, and 
from that time, the missionary-explorer dreamed of the pros- 
pect of being able to open up a highway into populous lands, 
which might be reached by boats, and to whose inhabitants 
might be communicated the benefits accruing from civilization, 
the arts, commerce, and religion. 

. Twelve days after they had left their wagons at Ngabisane, 
they came to the north-east end of Lake Ngami : and on the 
1st of August, 1849, they went down together to the broad 
part, "and, for the first time," says Li vingstone, " this fine-look- 
ing sheet of water was beheld by Europeans. The direction 
of the lake seemed to be K.N.E. and S.S.W. by compass. The 
southern portion is said to bend round to the west, and to re- 
ceive the Teoughe (Teoge) from the north at its north-west ex- 
tremity. We could detect no horizon where we stood, looking 



LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 97 

S.S.W., nor could we form any idea of the extent of the lake 
except from the reports of the inhabitants of the district ; and, 
as they professed to go round it in three days, allowing twenty- 
five miles a day, that would make it seventy-five, or less than 
seventy geographical miles in circumference. Other guesses 
have been made since as to its circumference, ranging between 
seventy and one hundred miles." It is shallow. The water is 
fresh when full — brackish when low. It can never, on account 
of its want of depth, be of great value as a commercial high- 
way. The region is low, as shown by one of Newman's baro- 
metric thermometers, only between 207^° and 206°, giving an 
elevation of not much more than two thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. They had descended more than two thousand 
feet in coming to it from Kolobeng. 

" My chief object in coming to the lake," says Livingstone, " was 
to visit Sebituane, the great chief of the Makololo, who was re- 
ported to live some two hundred miles beyond. We had now come 
to a half -tribe of the Bamangwato, called Batauana. Their chief 
was a young man named Lechulatebe. Sebituane had con- 
quered his father Moremi, and Lechulatebe received part of his 
education while a captive among the Bayeiye. His uncle, a 
sensible man, ransomed him ; and having collected a number 
of families together, abdicated the chieftainship in favor of his 
nephew. As Lechulatebe had just come into power, he imag- 
ined that the proper way of showing his abilities was to act di- 
rectly contrary to everything that his uncle advised. When we 
came, the uncle recommended him to treat us handsomely, 
therefore the hopeful youth presented us with a goat only. It 
ought to have been an ox. So I proposed to my companions 
to loose the animal and let him go, as a hint to his master. 
They, however, did not wish to insult him. I, being more of 
a native, and familiar with their customs, knew that this 
shabby present was an insult to us. We wished to purchase 
some goats or oxen ; Lechulatebe offered us elephants' tvisks. 
' No, we cannot eat these ; we want something to fill our stom- 
achs.' ' Neither can I ; but I hear you white men are all very 
fond of these bones, so I offer them ; I want to put the goats 
into my own stomach.' A trader, who accompanied us, was 
tlien purchasing ivory at the rate of ten good large tusks for a 
musket worth thirteen shillings. They were called 'bones;' 
and I myself saw eight instances in which the tusks had been 
left to rot with the other bones where the elephant fell. The 
Batauana never had a chance of a market before ; but, in less 
than two years after our discovery, not a man of them could be 
7 



98 LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 

found who was not keenly alive to the great value of the 
article. 

" On the day after our arrival at the lake, I applied to LecL 
ulatebe for guides to Sebituane. As he was much afraid of that 
chief, he objected, ,f earing lest other white men should go 
thither also, and give Sebituane guns; whereas, if the traders 
came to him alone, the possession of iire-arms would give him 
such a superiority, that Sebituane would be afraid of him. It 
was in vain to explain that I would inculcate peace between 
them — that Sebituane had been a father to him and Sechele, 
and was as anxious to see me, as he, Lechulatebe, had been. 
He offered to give me as much ivory as I needed without going 
to that chief ; but when I refused to take any, he unwillingly con- 
sented to give rne guides. JS^ext day, however, when Oswell 
and I were prepared to start, with the horses only, we re- 
ceived a senseless refusal ; and like Sekonii, who had thrown 
obstacles in our way, he sent men to Bayeiye with orders to re- 
fuse us a passage across the river. Trying hard to form a raft 
at a narrow part, I worked many hours in the water ; but the 
dry wood was so worm-eaten that it would not bear the weight 
of a single person. I was not then aware of the number of al- 
ligators which exist in the Zouga, and never think of ray labor 
in the water without feeling thankful that I escaped their jaws. 
The season was now far advanced ; and as Mr. Oswell, with his 
wonted generous feelings, volunteered, on the spot, to go down 
to the Cape and bring up a boat, we resolved to make our way 
south again." 

Coming down the Zouga, they had time to look at its banks, 
which are beautiful. The trees are ma2:niiicent. Near its con- 
fluence with the lake there were some of enormous size. The 
largest of two immense trees observed here was 76 feet in girth. 
There are two kinds of cotton in the country — the Mashona 
convert it into cloth, and dye it by means of wild indigo, which 
abounds. Elephants were found in prodigious numbers, and 
many hippopotami. Fish of ten kinds are to be found in the 
river ; and the Bayeiye live chiefly on fish. 

Having returned to Kolobeng, his station as a missionary, 
Livingstone remained there till April, 1850, when he again left 
for the purpose of visiting Sebituane. He was this time ac- 
companied by his wife and three children, and by the chief 
Sechele, who now possessed a wagon of his own. They meant 
to cross the Zouga at its lower end, to proceed up the northern 
bank as far as the Tamunak'le, and then to ascend that river to 
visit Sebituane in the north. Sechele wanted to visit Lechula- 



LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 99 

tebe, wliicli he did, and the rest of the party proceeded along 
the northern woody bank of the Zouga, with great labor, hav- 
ing to cut down many trees to enable the wagons to pass. Their 
losses by the falling of their oxen into pits w^ere very heavy. 
The Bayeiye assisted them in the most friendly manner. On 
approaching the conliiience of the Tamnnak'le they were in- 
formed that the fly called '' tsetse " abomided on its banks. The 
bite of the tsetse is fatal to horses and oxen, and they were 
obliged reluctantly to recross the Zouga. 

They then learned that a party of Englishmen who had come 
to the lake for ivory were all laid low by fever ; and they went 
sixty miles, with all speed, to render assistance. They were 
grieved to find that Mr. Alfred Kyder, an enterprising young 
artist who had come to make sketches of the countr}^ and of 
the lake immediately after its discovery, had died before their 
arrival. The others happily recovered. Sechele used all his 
powers of persuasion witii Lechulatebe to induce liim to furnish 
guides to enable Livingstone to visit Sebituane on ox-back, 
while Mrs. Livingstone and the children might remain at Lake 
Ngami. Livingstone had a superior London- made gun, on 
which he placed great value. The chief took a strong liking 
to it ; and it was at last agreed that he should have it, and that 
the wife and children of the traveller should remain with the 
chief, while he himself proceeded on his journey. But next 
morning two of the children were seized with fever, and, on the 
daj^ following, all their servants were ill of the same disease ; they 
were compelled therefore to forego tlieir original purpose, and 
to start for the purer air of the Desert. Some mistake had oc- 
curred in the arrangement with Oswell, whom they met on the 
Zouga on their return. He was disappointed, having hoped to 
overtake them and proceed with his former fellow-traveller; 
and he devoted the remaining portion of the season to elephant- 
hunting, in which he was so successful that he was looked upom 
as a magician by the natives. 

This second attempt to reach the country of Sebituane having 
failed, Livingstone returned to his work at Kolobeng. Sebi- 
tuane very soon after sent a number of messengers after him, 
direct from liimself. When he had heard of the attempts which 
had been made to visit him, he despached three detachments of 
his men with presents to the chiefs whose good-will was impor- 
tant : thirteen brown cows to Lechulatebe, thirteen white cows 
to Sekomi, and thirteen black cows to Sechele, requesting cacli 
to assist the white man to reach him. But it was the policy of 
these chiefs to keep the explorer out of view, lest they should 



100 LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS, 

lose the advantages wliich came to them by means of Sebi- 
tuane's ivory, which had hitherto come through their territory, 
and indeed through their hands. 

It was necessary to visit Kuruman before making a third jour- 
ney to Sebituane ; and it was not till May, 1851, that Livingstone 
and Oswell, the former taking with him liis wife and children, 
and a guide furnished by Sekomi, were once more on the way to 
the interior. They passed over a hard country, quite flat, and 
covered with a little soil on a bed of calcareous tufa, for several 
hundreds of miles. They found several large salt-pans, one 
of which, Ntwetwe, was fifteen miles broad and a hundred 
long. These pans have a gentle slope to the north-east, which 
is in the direction of the Zouga, into which the rain-water which 
covers them gently gravitates. By tliis means the salt, which 
they hold in solution, has all been transferred to one pan, named 
Ohuantsa, on which may be seen, at certain seasons, salt and 
lime an inch and a half thick. All the others have an efflor- 
escence of lime, and one of the nitrates only, some of them 
abounding in shells — spiral, univalve, and bivalve. In every 
salt-pan in the country there is a spring of fresh water on one 
side. There are many wells in the tufa, all over this district. 
There are also many families of Bushmen. They are unlike 
those on the plains of the Kalahari Desert, who are usually 
small men, but these are tall and strong, and very black. 

One of these Bushmen, named Shobo, agreed to guide them 
to the country of Sebituane. He gave them to understand 
that, after leaving the plain, they should have no water for a 
month ; but they found rain-water, in pools, sooner than they 
expected. The scene after leaving these pools was very dreary, 
the vegetation very scanty, and there was not even a bird or an 
insect to give variety to the landscape. Shobo wandered on 
the second day. They persuaded him to go on with them ; 
but, on the fourth day, after professing ignorance of every- 
thing, he vanished altogether. They advanced by themselves, 
suffering terribly from thirst : and on the fifth day their 
perseverance was rewarded by the sight of birds and the trail 
of a rhinoceros. From these signs, they knew that water must 
be near ; and, unyoking their oxen, these animals, guided by 
unerring instinct, rushed onward to the River Matabe, which 
comes from the Tamunak'le. The cattle, when left to them- 
selves, must have gone through a patch of trees infested with 
tsetse, for they all afterwards died. 

The tsetse constitutes in many parts of Africa one of the 
most serious difficulties with which travellers have to contend. 



LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 



101 




It is thus described by Livingstone : " It is not mncli larger 
than the common house-fly, and is nearly of the same brown 
color as the common honey-bee ; the after part of the body 
has three or four j^ellow bars across it; the wings project 
beyond this part considerably, and it is remarkably alert, 
avoiding most dexterously all attempts to capture it with the 
hand at common temperatures ; in the cool of the mornings 
and evenings it is less agile. Its peculiar buzz when once 
heard can never be forgot- 
ten by the traveller whose 
means of locomotion are do- 
mestic animals; for it is 
well known that the bite of 
this poisonous insect is cer- 
tain death to the ox, horse, 
and dog. In this journey, 
though we were not aware 
of any great number having 
at any time lighted on our 
cattle, we lost forty-three 
fine oxen by its bite. We 
watched the animals care- 
fully, and believe that not a 
score of flies were ever upon 

them. A most remarkable feature in the bite of the tsetse 
is its perfect harmlessness in man and wild animals, and even 
calves, so long as they continue to suck the cows. We never 
experienced the slighest injury from them ourselves, personally, 
although we lived two months in their hahitat, which was in 
this case as sharply defined as in many otliers, for the south 
bank of the Chobe was infested by them, and the northern 
bank, where our cattle were placed, only fifty yards distant, 
contained not a single specimen. This was the more remark- 
able, as we often saw natives carrying over raw meat to the op- 
posite bank with many tsetse settled upon it." 

Sliobo had found his way to the Bayeiye, and notwithstand- 
ing his desertion of his friends, received them, on their arrival 
at the river, at the head of a party, with the utmost self-pos- 
session and personal importance. They all liked Shobo, 
however. E'ext day they came to a village of Banajoa, a 
tribe which extends far to the eastward. They here obtained 
ftirther help, Moroa Majare, the younger brother of the chief, 
becoming their guide across the River Souta, and to the l.ianks 
of the Chobe, in tlie country of Sebituane. 



TSETSE FLY. 



102 LIYINGSTONITS EARLIER JOURNEYS. 

Sebitiiane was about twenty miles down the river, and 
Livingstone and Oswell went in canoes to his temporary 
residence. He had come from the Barotse town of ISTaliele 
down to Sesheke as soon as he heard that the white men were 
in search of him, and he now came a hundred miles more to 
bid them welcome to his country. He was upon an island, 
witli all his principal men around him. The travellers in- 
formed him of the difficulties which they liad had to encounter, 
and told him how glad they were that these were now at an 
end, since they had at last reached his presence. He expressed 
his own joy, and added, '^Your cattle are all bitten by the 
tsetse, and will certainly die ; but never mind, I have oxen, 
and will give you as many as you need." He then presented 
them with an ox and a jar of honey as food, and committed 
them again to the care of Mahale, who had headed the party 
from itolobeng. Prepared skins of oxen, as soft as cloth, 
were given them to cover themselves with in the night. 
Sebituane came to them, long before daylight, and sat down 
by the fire which had been lighted for their benefit behind the 
hedge by which they lay, narrating the difficulties which he 
himself had experienced, when a young man, in crossing the 
Desert which these travellers had just traversed. 

Sebituane was now about forty-five years of age; of a tall 
and wiry form, an olive, or coffee-and-milk, color, and slightly 
bald ; in manner cool and collected, " and more frank," says 
Livingstone, '' in his answers than any other chief I ever met." 
He was the greatest warrior ever heard of beyond the Colouy, 
for, unlike Mosilikatse, Dingaan, and others, he always led his 
men into battle himpelf. Lie came from the country near the 
sources of the Likwa and ISTamagari rivers in the south, so that 
he was here established eight or nine hundred miles from his 
birth-place. Lie was not the son of a chief, though closely 
related to the reigning family of the Basiitu ; and when in 
an attack by Sikonyele the tribe was driven out of one part, 
Sebituane was one of an immense horde which had again to 
flee before the Griquas from Kuruman in 1824. Lie then 
came to the north with a small party of men and cattle. At 
Melita the Bangwaketse collected the Bakwains, Bakatla, and 
Bahurutse, and attacked the new-comers. Sebituane conquered 
Makabe, the chief of the Bangwaketse, and took possession of 
his town and all his goods. He afterwards settled at a place 
called Litubaruba, where Sechele afterwards lived. A great 
variety of fortune subsequently followed him. He was entangled 
in many wars, but invariably eonq^uered his enemies. He came 



LlVmOSTONE'8 EABLIEE JOURNEYS. 103 

at last to be firmly established in his present country, possessed 
of great power, with many people and much wealth in flocks 
and herds. He obtained for himself a place in the affections 
of all classes, and ruled by love as well as fear. Sechele, 
Sekomi, and Lechulatebe owed their lives entirely to his clem- 
. ency. His people are Makololo. 

It was Livingstone's strong desire to locate himself in the 
midst of this immense multitude of people, and Sebituane, 
who had long desired the friendship of white men, understood 
his purpose and favored it. He was much pleased with the 
confidence in him shown by the bringing of the children, and 
promised to take the missionary to see his country, that he 
might choose a locality in which he could remain, and at once 
begin his work. But it was not at that time so to be. Sebituane, 
just after realizing the intercourse with white men which he 
had desired so long, was seized with inflammation of the lungs, 
and in a few days died. 

Livingstone says : " On the Sunday afternoon on which he died, 
when our usual religious service was over, I visited liim with 
ray little boy Robert. ' Come near,' said he, ' and see if I am 
any longer a man ; I am done.' He was thus sensible of the 
dangerous nature of his disease ; so I ventured to assent, and 
added a single sentence regarding hope after death. ' Why 
do you speak of death ? ' said one of a fresh relay of doctors ; 
' Sebituane will never die.' H I had persisted, the impression 
would have been produced that by speaking about it I wished 
him to die. After sitting with him some time, and comm.end- 
ing him to the mercy of God, I rose to depart, when the dying 
chieftain, raising himself up a little from the prone position, 
called to a servant, and said, ' Take E-obert to Manuku (one of 
his wives), and tell her to give him some milk.' These were the 
last words of Sebituane. 

" We were not informed of his death until the next day. 
The burial of a Bechiiana chief takes place in his cattle-pen, 
and all the cattle are driven for an hour or two around and 
over the grave, so that it may be quite obliterated. We went 
and spoke to the people, advising them to keep together and 
support the heir. They took this kindly ; and in turn told us 
not to be alarmed, for they would not think of ascribing the 
death of their chief to us ; that Sebituane had just gone the 
way of his fathers ; and though the father had gone, he had 
left children, and they hoped that we would be as friendly to 
his children as we intended to have been to himself. 

" He was decidedly the best specimen of a native chief I 



104 LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 

ever met. I never felt so much grieved by the loss of a black 
man before ; and it was impossible not to follow him in 
thought into the world of which lie had just heard before he 
w^as called away, and to realize somewhat of the feelings of 
those who pra}^ for the dead. The deep, dark question of what 
is to become of such as he must, however, be left where we 
find it, believing that, assuredly, the * Judge of all the earth 
will do right.' " 

At Sebituane's death the chieftainship devolved, as her 
father intended, on a daughter named Mamochisane. He had 
promised to show them his country and to allow them to select 
a suitable locality for residence and mission work. They had 
now to look to the daughter. She was living twelve days to 
the north ; and they wei-e obliged to wait till a message came 
from her. She gave them perfect liberty to visit any part of 
the country they chose. Both Livingstone and Oswell there- 
fore proceeded one hundred and thirty miles to the north-east, 
to Sesheke ; and in the end of June, 1851, were rewarded by 
the discovery of the Zambesi, in the centre of the continent. 
This was a most important discovery, for that river was not 
previously known to exist there. The Portuguese maps had, 
by conjecture, placed it far to the east ; and if ever anything 
like a chain of trading stations had existed across the country 
between the latitudes 12° and 18° south, this magnificent por- 
tion of the river ought to have been known before. They 
saw it at the end of the dry season, when the river is at its 
lowest, and yet there was a breadth of from three to six hundred 
yards of deep, flowing water. Osvv^ell declared that he had 
never seen so fine a river even in India. At the period of its 
annual inundation it rises more than twenty feet in perpendic- 
ular height, and floods fifteen or twenty miles of lands adjacent 
to its banks. 

The country over which they had travelled from the Chobe 
was flat, with the exception of ant-hills, and in some parts 
there are forests of mimosse and palmyi-as and mopane. There 
are swamps in large patches near the Chobe, or on its banks. 
Among the swamps the Makololo live, that they may thus 
obtain protection against their enemies. The open and healthy 
parts being utterly without defence, and these marshes most 
deleterious to human life, it was deemed inexpedient, at this 
time, to select any place for a missionary settlement. The 
original Basutos had all been cut oft' by fever. The idea was, 
therefore, reluctantly abandoned. 

These being the first white men whom the people had seen, 



LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNEYS. 105 

they were visited by prodigious numbers. Among tlie first of 
these was a gentleman dressed in a gaudy dressing-gown of 
printed calico. Many others had garments of blue, green, and 
red baize, and also of printed cottons ; and these were found, 
on inqair}^, to have been obtained in exchange for boys, from a 
tribe called Mambari, residing near Bihe, and trading as 
middle-men, in the slave market, between the natives and the 
Portuguese. The Hambari began the slave-trade with Sebit- 
uane in 1850 only, and, if it had not been for the obstructions 
put in the way of Livingstone and Oswell when they formerly 
attempted to reach that chief, the probability is that they 
would have been with him in time to prevent its being begun 
at all. The Mambari had long visited the chief of the Barotse, 
and when Sebituane conquered that trit3e he refused to allow 
any one to sell a child. But when they renewed their visits in 
1850, they brought with them a number of guns. These were 
too strong a temptation for Sebituane. lie offered to purchase 
them with cattle or ivory, but the Mambari refused everything 
except boys about fourteen years age. Till that time no such 
thing as the buying and selling of human beings had been 
known among the Makololo. Eight old guns were exchanged 
for eight boys. These were not their own children, but cap- 
tives. The Africans seldom sell their own children. The Mako- 
lolo were incited to make a foray against some tribes to the 
eastward. Many captives were taken, — and the Mambari 
carried away with them as many as two hundred slaves that 
year. 

It was believed by these travellers that if the market were 
supplied with articles of European manufacture in the way of 
legitimate commerce, the trade in slaves would become impos- 
sible. The people would prefer obtaining their goods in ex- 
change for ivory and other products of the country. But this 
could be accomplished only by means of a safe and protected 
road or highway from the coast to the centre of the country. 

Livingstone again returned to Kolobeng ; but as the Boers 
would not allow the peaceable instruction of the natives there, 
and since it would have been extremely hazardous to expose 
European lives in a region so unhealthy as the protected por- 
tions of Sebituane's country, he resolved to send his family to 
England, and to return alone that he might explore the country 
in search of a healthy district, which should prove a centre of 
civilization, and open up a path to the interior from either the 
east or west coast. The Directors of the London Missionary 
Society cordially approved of his project, and left the matter 



106 



LIVINGSTONE'S EARLIER JOURNETS. 



entirely to his own discretion. He aceordingly went to the 
Cape, with his wife and children, in April, 1852, having been 
absent eleven years from the scenes of civilization ; and having 
placed them on board a homeward-bound ship, he returned, in 
the hope that in two years they would meet again. But it 
proved to be nearly live. 




CHAPTEE YII. 

LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

Having sent his family home to England, as narrated in the 
preceding chapter, Livingstone started from Cape Town on his 
next journey, in the beginning of J ane, 1852. This journey ex- 
tended from the southern extremity of the continent to St. 
Paul de Loando, the capital of Angola, on the west coast, and 
thence across Central Africk in an oblique direction to Kili- 
mane (Quilimane), on the east coast. He used the usual con- 
veyance of the country, the heavy Cape wagon, drawn by ten 
oxen, and was accompanied by two Christian Bechuanas from 
Kuruman, — of whose fidelity he speaks in strong terms, — by 
two Bakwain men, and two young girls, who, having come as 
nurses with his children to tlie Cape, were returning to their 
home at Kolobeng. They proceeded very slowly, and the parts 
of the colony through which they passed were extremely bare 
and sterile. The cattle suffered fatally from the tsetse, which 
put the traveller to inconvenience, as such an occurrence inva- 
riably does. Arriving at Kuruman, he was detained there a 
fortnight by the breaking of a wheel, and found that Sechele 
and his tribe had been attacked by the Boers of the mountain 
and had suffered considerable loss. He arrived at the town of 
Sechele on the 31st of December, and having spent five days 
with his friends there, distressed by the painful spectacle of the 
miseries resulting from war, he began his preparations for the 
prosecution of his journey, and left on the 15th of January, 
1853. On the 21st he readied the wells of Boatlanama, and 
found them empty ; the Lopepe, which he had formerly seen a 
running stream, was also dry, and he pushed on to Mashtie. Oc- 
casionally they lighted upon land tortoises, w^hich formed an 
agreeable meal. 

Ostriches also were frequently seen, and of these Livingstone 
gives the following account : " The ostrich is generally seen 
quietly feeding on some spot w^here no one can approach him 
without being detected by his wary eye. As the wagon moves 
along far to the windward, he thinks it is intending to circum- 
vent him, so he rushes up a mile or so from the leeward, and 



108 LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

so near to the front oxen that one sometimes gets a shot at the 
silly bird. When he begins to run all the game in sight follow 
his example. I have seen this folly taken advantage of when 
he was feeding quietly in a valley open at both ends. A num- 
ber of men would commence running, as if to cut off his re- 
treat from the end through which the wind came ; and al- 
though he had the whole country hundreds of miles before him 
by going to the other end, he madly rushed to get past the men, 
and so was speared. He never swerves from the course he 
once adopts, but only increases his speed. When the ostrich is 
feeding, his pace is from twenty to twenty-two inches ; when 
walking, but not feeding, it is twenty-six inches ; and when ter- 
rified, as in the case noticed, it is from eleven and a half to 
thirteen and even fourteen feet in length. Only in one case 
was I at all satisfied of being able to count the rate of speed by 
a stop-watch, and if I am not mistaken, there were thirty in ten 
seconds ; generally one's eye can no more follow the legs than 
it can the spokes of a carriage- wheel in rapid motion. If we 
take the above number, and twelve feet stride as the average 
pace, we have a speed of twenty-six miles an hour. It cannot 
be very much above that, and is therefore slower than a railway 
locomotive. Thej^ are sometimes shot by the horsemen making 
a cross cut to their undeviating course, but few Englishmen 
ever succeed in killing them." 

When they reached the Bamangwato tribe, the chief, Se- 
komi, was particularly friendly, and collected all his people to 
the religious services which were held. Here the travellers re- 
mained several days, and Livingstone had time to observe some 
of the peculiar native customs. ^' All the Bechuana and Kaffro 
tribes," he says, " south of the Zambesi, practise circumcision 
(hoguera), but the rites observed are carefully concealed. The 
initiated alone can approach, but in this town I was once a 
spectator of the second part of the ceremony of the circum*"!- 
sion, called ' sechu.' Just at the dawn of day, a row of boys of 
nearly fourteen years of age stood naked in the kotla, each hav- 
ing a pair of sandals as a shield on his hands. Facing them 
stood the men of the town in a similar state of nudity, all 
armed with long, thin wands, of a tough, strong, supple bush 
called moretloa ( Grewia flava)^ and engaged in a dance named 
* koha,' in which questions are put to the boys, as — 'Will you 
guard the chief well ? ' ' Will you herd the cattle well ? ' and, 
while the latter give an afiirmative response, the men rush for- 
ward to them, and each aims a full-weight blow at the back of 
one of the boys. Shielding himself with the sandals above his 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 109 

head, lie causes the snpplo wand to descend and bend into hig 
back, and every stroke inflicted thus makes the blood sqnii-tout 
of a wound a foot or eighteen inches long. At the end of the 
dance, the boys' backs are seamed witli wounds and weals, the 
scars of which remain through life. This is intended to harden 
the young soldiers, and prepare them for the rank of men. 
After this ceremony, and after killing a rhinoceros, they may 
marry a wife. 

''No one of the natives knows how old he is. If asked his 
age, he answers by putting another question, ' Does a man re- 
member when he was borni ' Age is reckoned by the number 
of mepato they have seen pass through the formulas of admis- 
sion. When they see four or five mepato younger than them- 
selves, they are no longer obliged to bear arms. The oldest 
individual I ever met boasted he had seen eleven sets of boys 
submit to the boguera. Supposing him to have been fifteen 
when he saw his own, and fresh bands Avere added every six or 
seven years, lie must have been about forty when he saw the 
filth, and may have attained seventy-five or eighty years, which 
is no great age ; but it seemed so to them, for he had now 
doubled the age for superannuation among them. It is an in- 
genious plan for attaching the members of the tribe to the 
chief's family, and for imparting a discipline which renders the 
tribe easy of command. On their return to the town from at- 
tendance on the ceremonies of initiation, a prize is given to the 
lad who can run fastest, the article being placed where all may 
see the winner run up to snatch it. They are then considered 
men (banona, viri), and can sit among the elders in the kotla. 
Formerly they were only boys (basimane, pueri)." 

Passing on to Letloche, about twenty miles beyond the Ba- 
mangwato, they found an abundant supply of water, which in 
such a country is always of the greatest importance. Their 
next stopping-place was at a spot named Kanne, where there 
are several wells. They had now sixty miles of country before 
them without water ; and although they ^took with them as 
large a supply as they could, it was distressing to see the oxen 
long before that distance had been travej'sed. The Bakalahari, 
who live at Motlatsa vrells, were friendly, as they had always 
formerly been, and listened attentively to the instructions which 
were conveyed to them in their own tongue. 

The travellers left Motlatsa on the 8th of February, and 
passed down the Mokoko, which living persons had known as a 
fiowing stream. It is now a dry bed. The Bamangwato here 
keep large fiocks of sheep and goats, which thrive well where- 



110 LIVINGSTOl^EPS JOUHNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

ever salt and bushes are to be found. At ISTclickotsa they still 
suffered from scarcity of water, and the men took advantage of 
that circumstance to wait at night by such pools as they could 
find, that they might shoot the animals which were driven to 
them and off their guard by the excess of their thirst. Of this 
Livingstone disapproved, large numbers of the game being in 
such circumstances merely wounded and left slowly to die. 

Numbers of baobab and mopane trees abound all over the 
hard, arid surface of the country in this part. They passed one 
specimen of the baobab, called in the language of the district, 
mowana, which consisted of six branches united in one trunk. 
At three feet from the ground it was eighty-five feet in cir- 
cumference. These mowana trees are the mo^t wonderful 
specimens of vitality in the country. Adanson and others be- 
lieved that some specimens which they saw in Western Africa 
had been alive before the Flood, and hence argued that there 
had never been any flood. But, says Livingstone, '' I wonld 
back a true mowana against a dozen floods, provided you do not 
boil it in hot sea- water ; but I cannot believe that any of those 
now alive had a chance of being subjected to the experiment 
of even the Koachian deluge." The natives strip off the bark 
as far up as they can reach ; this they pound, and of the fibre 
make a strong cord. In the case of any other tree this would 
cause its death, but such treatment has no effect on the mo- 
wana except to make it throw out a new bark, which is done 
in the way of granulation. This stripping of the bark is re- 
peated frequently, so that it is common to see the lower fi-vQ or 
six feet an inch or two less in diameter than the parts above. 
No external injury, not even a fire, can destroy this tree from 
without ; nor can any harm be done it from within, as it is 
quite common to find it hollow ; and sometimes one is to be 
seen in which twenty or thirty men could lie down and sleep 
as in a hut. Cutting down does not exterminate it, for the 
roots, extending along the surface forty or fifty yards from the 
trunk, also retain their vitality after the tree is laid low. The 
wood is so soft and spongy that an axe can be struck in so far 
with a good blow, that there is great difiiculty in pulling it out 
again. 

At Rapesh Livingstone came upon old friends — 'the Bushmen 
under LEoroye. This man Horoye was a good specimen of that 
tribe, and his son Mokantsa and others were at least six feet 
high, and of a darker color than the Bushmen of the south. 
Tliej'' have always plenty of food and water ; and as they fre- 
quent the Zouga as often as the game in whose company they 




o 



s 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT, m 

live, their condition is very different from that of the inhabi- 
tants of the thirsty plains of the Kalahari. The travellers 
spent a Sunday with Kaisa, the headman of a village of Ma- 
shona, who had fled from the iron sway of Mosilikatse, whose 
country lies east of this. Livingstone wished him to take 
charge of a packet of letters for England, to be forwarded by 
the Bechuanas when they came in search of skins; but he 
was afraid of the danger if anything should happen to them 
and there was therefore now no hope of any communication 
with the family of the explorer till he should reach the west 
coast. At Unku they came into a tract of country which had 
been visited by refreshing showers long before, and everything 
was luxuriant and beautiful. Proceeding to the north, from 
Kama-kama, they entered into dense Mohonono bush, which 
required the constant application of the axe by three of the 
party for two days. On emerging into the plains beyond they 
found a number of Bushmen, who afterwards proved very 
serviceable to them. On the 10th of March they were brought 
to a standstill, by the prostration of four of the party with 
fever; and instead of the speedy recovery of the first sufferers, 
every man of their number was, in a few days, laid low except 
a Bakwain lad and the traveller himself. The lad managed 
the oxen, while Livingstone attended to the patients. 

The grass was here so tall, that the oxen became uneasy, 
fearing that wild beasts might be concealed in it, and one 
night the sight of a hyena made them rush away into the 
forest. The Bakwain lad having run after them, lost his way 
in the trackless woods ; but he remained on the trail of the 
cattle all the next day and all the next night. On the Sunday 
morning, when search was about to be made for him, he ap- 
peared near the wagon. He had found the oxen late in the 
afternoon of Saturday, and had been obliged to stand by them 
all night. It was wonderful that, without a compass and in 
such a country, he had managed to find his way back at all, 
bringing about forty oxen with him. 

The detention on account of sickness, and the weakness 
which followed it, made the progress of the party very slow, 
and to these impediments was added that of the density of the 
forest. But they obtained the aid of a number of Bushmen, 
and urged on their way. None of the men had died ; but two 
were not likely to recover. After a time the Bushmen wished 
to return, and Livingstone paid them. There was no use expos- 
tulating with these gentlemen. But the payment acted as a 
charm on some strangers who happened to be present, and in- 



112 LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT 

dnced them to volunteer their aid. Thus he was enabled to 
advance. They frequently heard the roar of lions, and occasion- 
ally saw them. 

" The lions," says Livingstone, " seem to have a wholesome 
dread of the Bushmen, who, when they observe evidence of a 
lion's having made a full meal, follow up his spoor so quietly 
that his slumbers are not disturbed. One discharges a poi- 
soned arrow from a distance of only a few feet, while his com- 
panion simultaneously throws his skin cloak on the beast's 
head. The sudden surprise makes the lion lose his presence of 
mind, and he bounds away in the greatest confusion and ter- 
ror. Our friends here showed me the poison which they use 
on these occasions. It is the entrails of a caterpillar called 
N'gwa, half an inch long. They squeeze out these, and place 
them all around the bottom of the barb, and allow the poison 
to dry in the sun. They are very careful in cleaning their 
nails after working with it, as a small portion introduced into 
a scratch acts like morbid matter in dissection wounds. The 
agony is so great that the person cuts himself, calls for his 
mother's breast as if he were returned in idea to his childhood 
again, or flies from human habitations a raging maniac. The 
effects on the lion are equally terrible. He is heard moaning 
in distress, and becomes furious, biting the trees and ground in 
rage." 

As they went northwards, the country became very lovely ; 
there were many trees, some of them new kinds ; the grass 
was green, and often higher than the wagon ; while vines fes- 
tooned the trees, and the hollows contained large patches of 
water. By and by came water-courses, now resembling small 
rivers, twenty yards broad and four "feet deep. The farther 
they went, the broader and deeper these became ; the bottoms 
contained great numbers of deep holes made by the wading 
of elephants ; in one of these the oxen floundered painfully, so 
that the wagon-pole broke, and Livingstone had to work up to 
the chest in water for three hours and a half. 

At last they came to the Sanshureh, which at the point at 
which they reached it was impassable, and they drew up un- 
der a magnificent baobab-tree (lat. 18° 4' 2T' S., long. 24° 6' 
2C E.), and resolved to explore the river for a ford. The 
great quantity of water which they had recently passed 
through was part of the annual inundation of the Chobe ; and 
this, which appeared a large, deep river, filled in many parts 
with reeds, and having hippopotami in it, is only one of the 
branches by which it sends its superabundant water to the 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 113 

south-east. They made many attempts to cross the Sanshureh, 
but failed ; and their Bushmen friends became tired out, and 
left them in the night. The traveller was, therefore, obliged 
to take one of the strongest of his still weak companions, and 
cross the river in a pontoon, the gift of Captains Codrington 
and Webb, which he had with him. They each carried some 
provisions and a blanket, and penetrated about twenty miles 
to the westward, in the hope of striking the Chobe. Having 
done their best for the night, they climbed the highest trees 
in the morning, and could see a large sheet of water, but sur- 
rounded by an impenetrable belt of reeds. This was the 
broad part of the River Chobe, which is here called Zabesa. 
•Two tree-covered islands seemed to be much nearer the main 
body of the water than was the point on which they then 
stood, and they made an attempt to get first to them. After 
hours of toil they reached one of them, through dense growths 
of reed and convolvuli, which quite wore through the mole- 
skins of Livingstone as well as the leather trousers of his com- 
panion. By and by they found a passage formed by a hippo- 
potamus^ and, eager as soon as they reached the clear water 
beyond the island to test its depth, they stepped in, and found 
that it took them at once up to the neck. They therefore re- 
turned to the shore. Worn out as they were, they proceeded 
up the bank of the Chobe till they came to the point of de- 
parture of the Sanshureh, and being unable to effect a crossing, 
went downward, and had to spend another night without hav- 
ing accomplished their purpose. Finding in the morning an 
inlet to the Chobe not closed up with reeds, they launched 
their pontoon, the river being here a deep stream of from 
eighty to a hundred yards wide. 

They paddled on from mid-day till sunset, with nothing but 
a wall of reeds on each bank, and with every prospect of a 
sujt^erless night in their float, when, just as the short twilight 
of these parts was commencing, they perceived on the north 
bank the village of Moremi, and one of iliQ Makololo, whose 
acquaintance Livingstone had made in his former visit, and 
who was now located here on the island of Mahonta (lat. 17° 
58' S., long. 24° 6^ E.). The people were greatly surprised to 
Bee them, and, in their figurative mode of speech, said, " He 
has dropped among us from the clouds, yet came riding on the 
back of a hippopotamus ! We Makololo thought no one could 
cross the Chobe without our knowledge, but here he drops 
among us like a bird." Next day they returned in canoes 
across the flooded lauds, and found that in their absence the 
8 



114 LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

men had allowed the cattle to wander into a small patch of 
wood, containing tsetse; and this carelessness cost ten fine 
oxen. After remaining a few days, some of the headmen of 
Makololo came down from Linyanti, with a large party of 
JBarotse to take them across the river. This they did in good 
style, swimming and diving more like alligators than like men, 
taking the wagons to pieces, and carrying them across on a 
number of canoes lashed together. Livingstone was now 
among friends, and, going about thirty miles to the north in 
order to avoid the still flooded lands on the north of the 
Chobe, he turned westward towards Linyanti, where he arrived 
on the 23d of May, 1853. Tliis is the capital town of the 
Makololo, and only a short distance from the wagon-stand 
which the traveller had occupied in 1851 (lat. 18? 20' S., long. 
23° 50' E.). 

The whole population of Linyanti, numbering between six 
and seven thousand souls, turned out in a body to see the wag- 
ons in motion. They had never seen this phenomenon be- 
fore, the traveller having on the former occasion departed by 
night. Sekeletu, now in power, received him in what is con- 
sidered royal style, setting before him a great number of 
pots of boyaloa, the beer of the country. These were brought 
by women, and each bearer took a good draught of the beer 
when she set it down, in order to show that it contained no 
poison. The court herald, an old man who had occupied the 
post in Sebituane's time, stood up, and, after some antics, such 
as leaping and shouting at the top of his voice, bawled out, 
'^ Don't I see the white man ? Don't I see the comrade of Se- 
bituane ? Don't I see the father of Sekeletu ? " 

Sekeletu was a young man of eighteen years of age, of that 
dark yellow or coffee-and-milk color of which the Makololo 
are so proud, because it distinguishes them considerably from 
the black tribes on the rivers. He was about five feet seven 
in height, but neither so good-looking nor of so much abiHty 
as his father, but was equally friendly to the English. Sebit- 
uane had installed his daughter Mamochisane into the chief- 
tainship long before his death ; but after his decease, and 
having made trial of the new position, she did not like it, and 
proposed and upheld the claims of her brother. Three days 
having been spent in public discussion on the subject of the 
transfer, Mamochisane at last stood up in the assembly, and 
addressing her brother, said, with a womanly gush of tears : 
'' I have been a chief only because my father wished it. I 
always would have preferred to be married and have a family 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 115 

like other women. You, Sekeletu, must be chief and build 
up your father's house." And Sekeletu was established in au- 
thority. 

^yhen the Mambari, in 1850, took home a favorable report 
of this new market to the West, a number of half-caste Portu- 
guese were induced to visit the country in 1853 ; and one who 
closely resembled a real Portuguese came to Linyanti while 
Livingstone was there. He had no merchandise, and pretended 
to have come in order to inquire what sort of goods were nec- 
essary for the market. He seemed much disconcerted by 
Livingstone's presence. When he had departed, and gone 
about fifty miles to the westward, he carried off an entire vil- 
lage of the Bakalahari belonging to the Makololo. He had a 
number of armed slaves with him, and men, women, and chil- 
dren were removed, the fact not being known at Linyanti until 
a considerable time afterwards. 

A large party of Mambari had come to Linyanti, while Liv- 
ingstone was detained by the flooded streams on the pi-airies 
south of the Chobe. As the news of his being in the neigh- 
borhood reached them, their countenances fell ; and when some 
Makololo who had assisted him to cross the river returned with 
the hats which he had given them, the Mambari betook them- 
selves to precipitate flight. The Makololo inquired the cause 
of such haste, and were told that if Livingstone found them 
there, he would take all their slaves and goods from them ; 
and though assured by Sekeletu that Livingstone was not a 
robber, but a man of peace, they fled by night, while he was 
still sixty miles off. 

The chieftainship of Sekeletu had been opposed, and still 
was, by a man named Mpepe, a person to whom Sebituane had 
committed the care of certain of his affairs at a distance from 
the capital. This man was in league with the slave-tradei-s, 
and himself aspired to be chief. He had provided himself 
with a small battle-axe, and had declared his intention of cut- 
ting Sekeletu down the first time they met. Livingstone's ob* 
ject was, first of all, to examine the country for a healthy 
locality before attempting to make a path to either the east or 
the west coast, and, with this in view, he proposed to the chief 
the plan of ascending the great river which he had discovered 
in 1851. Sekeletu volunteered to accompany him; and when 
tliey had got about sixty miles on their way, they encountered 
Mpepe. The Makololo, though having abundance of cattle, 
had never used them for riding purposes till the traveller had 
suggested the practice in 1851. Sekeletu and his companions 



116 LIVING STOISTE' 8 JOUBNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 

■were now on ox-back. Mpepe, armed with his axe, when he 
saw them ran towards them with all his might, but Sekeletii^ 
being on his guard, galloped off to an adjacent village. Mpepe 
had given his own party to understand that he would cut down 
Sekeletu, either on their first meeting, or at the breaking up 
of their first conference. The former intention had been frus- 
trated, but he determined to effect his purpose at the close of 
their first interview. Livingstone liappened to sit down be- 
tween tbe two in the hut in which they met. Being fatigued 
with riding all day in the sun, he soon asked the chief where 
he was to sleep, and he replied, " Come, I will show you." As 
they rose together, he unconsciously covered Sekeletu's body 
with liis own, and so saved him from the stroke of the assassin. 
He knew nothing of the plot, but remarked that all Mpepe's 
men retained their arms, even after the party had sat down — 
a thing quite unusual in the presence of a chief; and when 
Sekeletu showed him the hut in which he was to spend the 
night, he said, " That man wishes to kill me." Livingstone 
afterwards learnt that soine of Mpepe's attendants had 
divulged the secret; and this man having been dangerous 
even before Sebitiiane's death, Sekeletu, bearing in mind his 
fatlier's instructions, had him put to death that night. The 
affair was managed so quietly that, although Livingstone was 
sleeping a few yards from the scene, he knew nothing of it 
till tJie next morning. ISTokuane, one of Sekeletu's officers, 
went to the fire at which Mpepe sat, with a liandful of snuff, 
as if he were about to sit dow^n and regale him. Mpepe said 
to him, "Nespisa" (give me a pinch), and as he held out his 
hand ISTokuane canght hold of it, while another man seized 
the other hand, and, leading him out a mile, they speared him. 
Such is the common mode of executing criminals. 

Soon after Livingstone's arrival at Linyanti, Sekeletu had 
taken him aside, and pressed him to mention the things he 
liked best, and which he hoped to get from him: any tiling, 
either in or out of his town, should be freely given if he would 
only mention it. Livingstone explained to him tliat his object 
was to elevate him and his people to be Christians ; but he re- 
plied that he did not wish to learn the Book, for he was afraid 
" it might change his heart, and make him content with only 
one wife like Sechele." It was of little use to urge that the 
change of heart implied satisfaction with all that was right, 
and dislike to all that was wrong. 

The Makololo are great cattle-breeders, and take pride in all 
ftheir domestic animals. The women work but little, the tilling 



LlVmOSTONE'S JOUENEY ACROSS THE COH^TINENT, 117 

of the soil being for the most part done by the subject tribes. 
The women drink large quantities of bojadoa, or beer, which 
is very nutritions, and gives them that plumpness of form 
which is considered beautiful. They dislike being seen at 
their potations by persons of the opposite sex. They cut their 
woolly hair quite short, and delight in having the whole per- 
son shinino^ with butter. Their dress is a kilt reachino^ to the 
knees ; its material is ox-hide, made as soft as cloth. It is not 
ungraceful. A soft skin mantle is thrown across the shoulders 
when the lady is unemployed, but when engaged in any sort 
of labor she throws this aside, and works with kilt alone. 
The ornaments most coveted are large brass anklets as thick as 
the little finger, and armlets of botli brass and ivory, the latter 
often an inch broad. The rings are so heavy that the ankles 
are often blistered by the weight pressing down ; but it is the 
fashion, and is borne with as much fortitude as tight lacing 
and tight shoes among ourselves. Strings of beads are hung 
around the neck, and the fashionable colors being light green 
and pink, a trader could get almost anything he chose for beads 
of these colors. 

" At our public religious services in the kotla, the Makololo 
women always behaved with decorum from the first, except at 
the conclusion of the prayer. When all knelt down, many of 
those who had children, in following the example of the rest, 
bent over their little ones ; the children, in terror of being 
crushed to death, set up a simultaneous yell, which so tickled 
the whole assembly that there was often a subdued titter, to be 
turned into a hearty laugh as soon as they heard Amen. This 
was not so difficult to overcome in them as similar peccadilloes 
were in the case of the women farther south. Long after we 
had settled at Mabotsa,i when preaching on the most solemn 
subject, a woman might be observed to look around, and, see- 
ing a neighbor seated on her dregs, give her a hunch with the 
elbow to make her move off ; the other would return it with 
interest, and perhaps the remark, ' Take that nasty thing 
away, will you ? ' Then three or four would begin to hustle 
the first offenders, and the men to swear at them all, by way of 
enforcing silence." 

Livingstone proposed to teach the Makololo to read ; but they 
at first declined. After some weeks, however, Motibe, Seke- 
letu's father-in-law, and some others determined to brave the 
mysterious book. Sekeletu himself and some of his compan- 
ions foUovsed this example, by and by ; but before much prog- 
ress could be made the missionary was on his way to Loandoo 



118 LIVmOSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

As lie had declined to name anything as a present from the 
chief, except a canoe to take him np the river, the latter 
l)rought him ten fine elephants' tusks one day, and laid them 
down beside the wagon. He would take no denial, although 
Livingstone told him that he should prefer to see him trading 
with Fleming, a negro from the West Indies, who had accom- 
})anied him, and who had come for the purpose. Livingstone 
had during the eleven, years of his previous course invariably 
abstained from taking presents of ivory, having the idea that 
a religious instructor degrades himself by taking presents from 
those whose spiritual welfare he professes to seek. 

Presents were always given to the chiefs whom he visited, 
and nothing accepted in return ; as a rule it was so : but when 
Sebituane (in 1851) offered some ivory, he took it, and was 
able by the sale of it to present Sekeletu with a number of 
really useful articles of a higher value than any he had ever 
before been in a position to present to any chief. Lie had 
brought with him as presents, besides the moue usual gifts, an 
improved breed of goats, fowls, and a pair of cats. A supe- 
rior bull was bought also as a gift to Sekeletu, but he was 
compelled to leave it behind on account of its having become 
footsore. He had endeavored to bring this animal in perform- 
ance of a promise which he had made to Sebituane before he 
died. That chief admiring a calf which the traveller had 
with him, he proposed to give him a cow for it ; it was pre- 
sented to him at once, and a promise made to bring him an- 
other and a better one. Sekeletu was much gratified by this 
attempt to keep the promise which had been made to his father. 
The Makololo are remarkably fond of their cattle, and have 
large herds of them, spending much time in ornamenting and 
adorning them. They use all the skins of their oxen for 
making either mantles or shields. 

On the 30th of May, Livingstone himself was seized with 
fever for the first time. He had reached Linyanti on the 23d ; 
and as his habits had been suddenly changed from great exer- 
tion to comparative inactivity, this was the result. Anxious to 
know if the natives were acquainted with any remedy of which 
he was ignorant, he requested the assistance of one of Sekele- 
tn's doctors. He submitted to the doctor's treatment for a 
time, but ere long concluded that he could cure the fever 
more quickly himself. Purgatives, general bleedings, or in- 
deed any violent remedies, are injurious. If one employs a 
wet sheet and a mild aperient in combination with quinine, 
and in addition to the native remedies, he will usually find 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOUBNET ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 119 

such means effective. There is a good deal in not " giving in " 
to this disease ; a man who is low-spirited, and apt to despond 
at everj" attack, will die sooner than one who is of a hopeful 
temperament. 

When Livingstone liad formerly left them to proceed to the 
Cape, the Makololo had made a garden for him, and planted 
maize in it, that, as they said, he might have food to eat when 
he returned, as well as other people. This was now pounded by 
the women into fine meal. Sekeletu added to this good supply 
of meal ten or twelve jars of honey, each of which contained 
about two gallons. Liberal supplies of ground-nuts {Arachis 
hyjpogcBd) were also furnished every time the tributary tribes 
brought their dues to Linyanti, and an ox for the use of the 
party was given every week or two. Sekeletu also appropriated 
two cows to be milked for them every morning and evening. 
Such was the acknowledged rule throughout this country — the 
chief being expected to feed all strangers who came to him on 
any special business, and took up their abode in his kotla. A 
present is usually given for the hospitality, but, except in cases 
where the aboriginal customs have been modified, nothing 
would be asked. 

The Makololo cultivate a large extent of land around their 
villages, and both men and women take their share in the 
labors of the field. The great chief Moshesh sets an example 
to his people every year, by not only taking the hoe in liand, 
but working hard with it on certain public occasions. 

The tribes which Sebituane subjected in this great country 
pass by the general name of Makalaka. The Makololo were 
the aristocracy. The nucleus of the whole were Basuta, who 
came with Sebituane from a comparatively cold and hilly 
region in the south. When he conquered various tribes of the 
Bechnanas, as Bakwains, Bangwaketze, Bamangwato, Batauana, 
and others, he incorporated the young of those tribes into his 
own. 

Livingstone, having remained a month at Linyanti, set out 
to ascend the river from Sesheke. He went to Nariele, or 
Naliele, the capital of the Barotse country (lat. 15° 24' 27'' S., 
long. 23° 5' 54" E.), in company with Sekeletu and about a 
hundred and sixty attendants. The country between Linyanti 
and Sesheke is flat, with the exception of occasional patches 
elevated a few feet above the surrounding level. There are 
also many mounds where the gigantic ant-hills of the country 
have been situated or still appear. These mounds are evi- 
dently the work of the termites, and the industry of these little 



120 LIVINGSTONE'S JOUENEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

laborers is astonishing as one looks upon the gigantic strnctures 
which they h^ve reared. Troops of leches appeared feeding 
quite heedlessly all over the flats ; and although very many of 
them and of the " nakong" are annually killed, the herds con- 
tinue to be enormous. 

When the party arrived at any village, the women all turned 
out to lulliloo their chief. Their shrill voices, to which they 
give a tremulous sound by a quick motion* of the tongue, peal 
forth '' Great lion ! " " Great-chief ! " " Sleep, my lord ! " and 
so on. The men utter similar salutations ; and the chief mean- 
while receives all with becoming indifference. After a few 
minutes' conversation, la.rge pots of beer are produced, and also 
pots and basins of thick milk. The chief either selects an ox 
or two from his own numerous cattle stations, or is presented 
by the headman of the village, in the way of tribute, with 
what he needs. Sekelotu and Livingstone had each a gypsy- 
tent in whicli to sleep, and it was fortunate, as the native huts 
are hardly inviting to the uninitiated. "The Makololo huts," 
says Livingstone, " are generally clean, while those of the Maka- 
laka are infested with vermin. The cleanliness of the former 
is owing to the habit of frequently smearing the floors with a 
plaster composed of cow-dung and earth. If we slept in the 
tent in some villages, the mice ran over our faces and disturbed 
our slee]), or huiigry, prowling dogs would eat our shoes and 
leave only the soles ; when they were guilty of this and other 
misdemeanors, we got the loan of a hut. The best sort of 
Makololo huts consist of three circular walls, with small holes 
as doors, each similar to that in a dog-house ; and it is neces- 
sary to bend down the body to get in, even when on all fours. 
The roof is formed of reeds or straighj sticks, in shape like a 
Chinaman's hat, bound firmly together with circular bands, 
which are lashed with the strong inner bark of the mimosa- 
tree. When all prepared except the thatch, it is lifted on to 
the circular wall, the rim resting on a circle of poles, between 
each of which the third wall is built. The roof is tliatched 
with fine grass, and sewed with the same material as the lash- 
ings; and, as it projects far beyond the walls, and reaches 
within four feet of the ground, the shade is the best to be 
found in the country. These huts are very cool in the hottest 
day, but are close and deficient in ventilation by night." 

Their course led them to a part above Sesheke, called Ka- 
tonga, where there is a village, belono;ing to a Bashubia man 
named Sekhosi (lat. 17° 29' 13'' S.,lon. 20° 33' E). The river 
here is certainly not less than six hundred yards broad. Several 



LIVINGSTOI^E'S JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 121 

days were necessarily spent in collecting canoes for the ascent 
of the river. To assist in the support of the large party, Liv- 
ingstone v^^ent out several times with his gun. The country 
abounds witli game, — buffaloes, zebras, tsessebes, tahaetsi, elands, 
and other kinds. He shot a beautiful eland, a new variety, upon 
seeing which one of the Makololo who accompanied him, " a 
geiitleman," speaking in reference to its extraordinary beauty, 
said, " Jesus ought to have given us these instead of cattle." 
The river is here called the Leeambye. On the occasion of his 
first visit, he had called it after the town Sesheke. Sesheke 
means " white sand-banks," many of which exist here. Leeam- 
bye means " the large river," or the river jpar excellence, 
Luambeje, Luambesi, Ambezi, Ojimbesi, Zambesi, and other 
names are applied to it at different parts of its course — all 
having a similar signification. " 

Having at last procured a sufficient number of canoes, they 
began to ascend the river. Sekeletu had ten paddlers, and 
Livingstone six. The fleet consisted of thirty-three canoes. 
They proceeded rapidly upwards, and Livingstone had the 
pleasure of looking on lands which had never before been seen 
by the eyes of any European. The river is indeed magnifi- 
cent, being often more than a mile broad, and adorned with 
many islands of from three to ^^q miles in length. The 
islands and banks are covered with forest, and the scener}^ all 
along is extremely beautiful. Great quantities of grain are 
raised by the Banyeti, and many of the vill^-ges of these indus- 
trious people are to bo found on both banks. The Banyeti are 
expert hunters, and very skilful in the manufacture of various 
articles in wood and iron. 

From the bend of the river up to the north, called Katima- 
moledo (I quenched fire), the bed of the stream is rocky, the 
current is fast, and forms a succession of rapids and cataracts, 
which prevent continuous navigation when it is low. The 
rapids are not visible when the river is full, but the cataracts 
of Nambwe, Bombwe, and Kale must always be dangerous. 
The fall at each of these is from four to six feet. The falls at 
Gonye present a much more serious obstacle. They were 
there obliged to take their canoes out of the water and carry 
them more than a mile by laud ; the fall being about thirty 
feet. 

As they passed up the river, the different villag3s of Banyeti 
turned out to present Sekeletu with food and skins, as their 
tribute. When they came to about 16° 16' S. lat. the high 
wooded banks seemed to leave the river. Yiewed from the 



122 LIVINGSTONE'S J0UENE7 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

flat, reedy basin in which the river then flowed, the banks 
Beemed to be prolonged into ridges of the same wooded charac- 
ter two or three hundred feet high, and stretched away to the 
^N". N. E. and N. N. "VY. until they were twenty or thirty miles 
apart. The intervening space, nearly one hundred miles in 
length, with the Leeambye winding gently near the middle, is 
the true Barotse valley. It closely resembles the valley of the 
l!Tile, and is inundated annually by the Leeambye as Lower 
Egypt is flooded by the Mle. The soil is extremely fertile, 
and the people are never in want of grain. The Barotse are 
strongly attached to this fertile valley ; they say, " Here 
hunger is not known." Yet this great valley is not put to a 
tithe of the use it might be. It is- covered with coarse, succu- 
lent grasses, one species being twelve feet high, and as thick 
as a man's thumb. There are no large towns, as the house- 
holders require to live far apart on account of their cattle. 
The villages of the Barotse are built in mounds, some of which 
are said to have been raised artificially by Santaru, a former 
chief of the Barotse, and during the season of flood the entire 
valley assumes the appearance of a lake with small islands 
dotted here and there over its expanse. Naliele, the capital, is 
constructed on one of these mounds constructed by Santaru, 
and was his storehouse for grain. All that remained at the 
time of Livingstone's visit of the largest mound in the valley 
was a few cubic yards of earth, to erect which cost the whole 
of the people of Santaru the labor of many years. 

This was the first visit of Sekeletu to these parts since he 
had attained the chieftainship. Those who had taken part 
with Mpepe were consequently in great terror. When the 
party came to the -town of Mpepe's father, he and another man 
having counselled Mamochisane to put Sekeletu to death and 
marry Mpepe, the two were led forth and tossed into the river. 
Remonstrance against the deed on the part of Livingstone was 
wholly without effect. 

While still at Naliele, Livingstone walked out to Kataya 
(lat. 15° 16' 33'') on the ridge which bounds the valley of the 
Barotse, and found it covered with trees. He imagined that 
Kataya might be a healthy location, but was informed that no 
part of this region is exempt from fever — even the natives sel- 
dom escaping its malignant attacks. Beturning to Nalielo he 
continued to ascend the river, going up as far as the town of 
Libasta. Beyond this point the forests approached to the very 
water's edge and the tsetse reappeared. Hearing that he was 
near a great river called Leeba, which came from the country 



LIVINGSTOiarE'S JOUBNET ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 123 

of Londa, lie pushed on and came to the confluence of the Leeba 
and the Zambesi (in lat. 14° 31' 3''). The Zambesi is the 
larger stream, but the Leeba is a magnificent river 250 yards 
wide at the mouth. In this ascent of the river, Livingstone 
visited many villages of the Makololo, and was always received 
with cordiality as a messenger of peace, which they term 
" sleep." They behaved well at all public meetings, even on 
occasions of their first attendance. 

" As this was the first visit which Sekeletu had paid to this 
part of his dominions, it was to many a season of great joy. 
The headmen of each village presented oxen, milk, and beer, 
more than the horde which accompanied him could devour, 
though their abilities in that line are something wonderful. 
The people usually show their joy and work ofi: their excite- 
ment in dances and songs. The dance consists of the men 
standing nearly naked in a circle, with clubs or small battle- 
axes in their hands, and each roaring at the loudest pitch of 
his voice, while they simultaneously lift one leg, stamp heavily 
twice with it, then lift the other and give one stamp with that ; 
this is the only movement in common. The arms and head 
are often thrown about also in every direction ; and all this 
time the roaring is kept up with the utmost possible vigor ; the 
continued stamping makes a cloud of dust ascend, and they 
leave a deep ring in the ground where they stood. If the 
scene were witnessed in a lunatic asylum it would be nothing 
out of the way, and quite appropriate even, as a means of let- 
ting off the excessive excitement of the brain ; but here gray- 
headed men joined in the performance with as much zest as 
others whose youth might be an excuse for making the perspira- 
tion stream off their bodies with the exertion. Motibe asked 
what I thought of the Makololo dance. I replied, ' It is very 
hard work, and brings but small profit.' ' It is,' replied he, 
* but it is very nice, and Sekeletu will give us an ox for danc- 
ing for him.' He usually does slaughter an ox for the dancers 
when the work is over. The women stand by, clapping their 
hands, and occasionally one advances into the circle, composed 
of a hundred men, makes a few movements, and then retires." 
- It was now quite plain that no healthy location could be 
f>btained in which he could settle as a missionary with the 
Makololo, and hope to live in peace ; and he says, " I might, 
tlieref ore, have come home and said that the door was shut. 
Uut, believing that it was my duty to devote some portion 
of my life to these (to me at least) very confiding and 
affectionate Malvoiolo, I resolved to follow out the second part 



124 LIVINGSTONE'S JOUBNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 

of my plan, tlioiigh I had failed in accomplishing the first." 
And with this determination he ultimately proceeded across 
the continent to Loanda. During these past nine weeks, he 
had been in closer contact with heathenism than even he had 
experienced before ; and though all, including the chief, had 
been as kind and attentive to him as possible, and although he 
had suffered no want of any kind, yet the dancing, roaring, 
and singing, the jesting, anecdotes, grumbling, quarrelling, and 
murdering of these children of nature, seemed more like a 
severe penance than anything he had ever endured before in 
the whole course of his missionary experience. " Even the in- 
direct benefits which result from the diffusion of Christianity 
are worth all the labor and the money which have been ex- 
pended to produce them." 

Rapidly descending the river, and arriving again at Linyanti, 
Livingstone now prepared for the prosecution of his journey 
to Loanda. He might have made arrangements with the 
Mambari to permit him to accompany them as far as Bihe, 
which is on the road to St. Philip de Benguela, a port which 
was nearer than Loanda, but it was undesirable to travel in a 
path once trodden by slave-traders, and therefore he preferred 
another route. The Mambari had informed him that many 
English lived at Loanda, and he prepared to go thither. 

He was strongly dissuaded from making any such attempt 
as this — "He would die of fever;" "Lie w^ould certainly be 
killed ; " " Your garments already smell of blood." Such was 
the utterance of the old diviners. But Sebituane had formerly 
set down such visions to cowardice, and Sekeletu only laughed 
at them now. The general voice was in Livingstone's favor ; 
and a band of twenty-seven men were appointed to accompany 
him to the west. These men were not hired, but went to 
enable him to accomplish an object as much desired by the 
chief and his people as by himself. They were eager to obtain 
free and profitable trade with white men. 

The three men whom he had brought from Kuruman had 
frequent relapses of fever; he therefore decided that they 
should return with Fleming, the trader, when the latter should 
be ready to return south ; and thus he was entirely dependent 
upon his twenty-seven men whom, he says, " I might name 
Zambesians, for there were two Makololo only, while the rest 
consisted of Barotse, Batoka, Bashubia, and two of the 
Ambonda." 

His impediments did not burden the party to any great ex- 
tent. He had no expectation of succeeding by means of w^hat 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 125 

lie took with him, if he could not accomplish his purpose bj 
the help of what was in him. He was rather despondent than 
otherwise when he left Sekeletu and his principal men on the 
11th of November, 1853, to embark on the Chobe. But he 
"had always believed that, if we serve God at all, it ought to 
be done in a manly way," and he was '' detennined to succeed 
or perish in the attempt to open up this part of Africa." 

He again reached the town of Sesheke on the 17th of I^ov- 
eraber, and gave many public addresses to the people — his 
audiences sometimes amounting to as many as live or six hun- 
dred. Their progress up the river was rather slow. This was 
caused by waiting opposite different villages for food — Pitsane, 
his Makololo man, being resolved to carry out the instructions 
which he had received on this point from his chief Sekeletu. 

The rapids of the Chobe are caused by rocks of dark brown 
trap, or of hardened sandstone, stretching quite across the 
river. They form miles of such a bottom in some places, 
studded with islands. These rocks, in certain instances, are 
covered with a small aquatic plant which seems to contain 
mucli stony matter in its substance, and which appears to have 
a disintegrating power upon tlie rocks themselves. Many 
forest-trees line the banks ; turtle-doves and others which are 
well known abound; but there are varieties of the species 
which are new. Some are musical. Guinea-fowl are plenti- 
ful ; and on dead trees and rocks may be seen many varieties 
of the darter, or snake-bird. It sits most of the day sunning 
itself — its chief feeding-time being at night. It is a most ex- 
pert diver. Its rump is prolonged and flexible, capable of 
being used as a rudder, and also of being so employed as to lift 
tiie creature so far out of the water as to give free scope to tlie 
wdngs. When this is not wanted, the swimming is very low, 
so that little of the bird is seen besides the head. The fish- 
hawk is frequently to be met with, and near it dead fish, more 
having been killed than his lordship required. There is always 
a portion of every fish left behind, only certain tit-bits having 
been used. These are thankfully appropriated by the Barotse, 
who live near. 

The rapids between Katima-molelo and I^ameta have close 
by them much deep water, in considerable lengths or reaches, 
and in these there are multitudes of hippopotami. 

At the falls of the Gonye, the canoes were carried around 
the rapids slung on poles. At these falls the river is so narrow 
as, in some places, to be not more than a hundred yards wide. 
Tlie water, when in fiood, rises fifty or sixty feet in perpendicu- 



126 LIVmGSTONE'8 JOURNEY AVB088 THE OONTINEWT, 

lar height. The islands above the falls are very beautiful. 
The people are usually very kind to travellers, and present 
them with oxen, butter, milk, and meal. The' cows, at certain 
seasons, yield more milk than the inhabitants can use. The 
rains are sometimes early, sometimes late, but there is never 
in the Barotse valley any scarcity of food. 

Leaving Naliele, amid abundance of good wishes for the 
success of the expedition, and proceeding up the Leeambye, 
the banks were found in some places to consist of a light- 
colored clay, with strata of black clay intermixed ; at other 
parts they are black loam in sand, or pure sand stratified. 
When the water is low, they are from four to eight feet high. 
When the floods come, the one side or the other is worn away, 
and, from one bend to another, new channels are, at such sea- 
sons, continually being formed. Here the How averages about 
five miles — i.e., when the water is neither low nor in lull flood. 
The banks being perpendicular, afford hiding-places for a 
pretty bee-eater which breeds there. Hundreds of holes, lead- 
ing to their nests, may be counted for long distances. A 
speckled kingfisher, which builds in similar places, may fre- 
quently be seen. There is also a most beautiful variety of 
kingfisher, blue and orange, everywhere abounding by the 
water-side. And still a third species, about the size of a pigeon, 
of a slaty color. This is not so frequently seen. The sand- 
martin abounds at all seasons, and never migrates. 

Libonta was the next town arrived at, and is the last town of 
the Makololo. It is situated on a mound, like the rest of the 
villages of the Barotse valley. Beyond there are only some 
cattle stations and small hamlets, and then an uninhabited 
border-land reaching far onward in the direction of Londa, or 
Lunda. Be3'ond the inhabited parts, the country abounds in 
animal life in great variety of form. There are upwards of 
thirty descriptions of birds. The ibis comes down the Lee- 
ambye by hundreds, as on the Xile. There are large white 
pelicans, in flocks of two or three hundred, and innumerable 
plovers, snipes, ciirlews, and herons. Besides these there are, 
less commonly known, the white ardetta, in flocks, settling on 
the backs of large herds of buffaloes ; and the kala, with the 
strange-looking scissor-bill, which may also be seen sitting in 
large numbers on the withers of buffaloes when tlie herd is at 
full speed. There are many spoonbills, the flamingo, the 
Numidian crane, and two varieties of crane besides. Gulls 
abound. One little wader, an avoset, appears, on account of 
the length of its legs, as if it were standing on stilts ; while 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 127 

another, the Parra Africana, runs about on the surface of the 
water. It has long legs also, extremely thin, with wide-spread- 
ing toes. So marvellously is it adapted to its mode of life, that 
on account of the spread of its toes, it can stand on a lotus-leaf 
not more than five inches in diameter, never sinking, but ob- 
taining its livelihood, not by swimming or flying, but by catch- 
ing its insects while it walks on the water. Everywhere in the 
Barotse valley there are large flocks of black geese ; there are 
also other varieties of geese, and many ducks of different 
kinds. There are very many alligators in the river. Yast 
herds of wild animals occupy the plains, among them being 
several beautiful and new species of antelopes. 

Livingstone, on the occasion of his visiting these scenes for 
the first time, was detained for some days, in ^ order that he 
might return to their homes some dozen captives, the people of 
Makoma, whom he had induced their captors to restore. The 
same kindly act had been performed on behalf of others. This 
was thirty or forty miles above Libonta. At the confluence 
of the Leeba and Leeambye, he and his people spent a Sunday, 
and he says : 

'• Rains had fallen here before we came, and the woods had 
put on their gayest hue. Flowers of great beauty and curious 
form grow everywhere. The ground begins to swarm with 
insect life ; and in the cool, pleasant mornings the welkin 
rings Avith the singing of birds, which is not so delightful 
as the singing of birds at home, because I have not been 
familiar with them from infancy. The notes, however, 
strike the mind by their loudness and variety, as the wellings 
forth, from joyous hearts, of praise to Him who fills them with 
overflowing gladness. All of us rise early to enjoy the luscious, 
balmy air of the morning. We then have worship; but 
amidst all the beauty and loveliness with which we are sur- 
rounded, there is still a feeling of want in the soul in viewing 
one's poor companions, and hearing bitter, impure words jar- 
ring on the ear in the perfection of the scenes of nature, and a 
longing that both their hearts and ours might be brought into 
harmony with the Great Father of spirits. I pointed out, as 
usual, in the simplest words I could employ, the remedj^ which 
God has presented to us, in the inexpressibly precious gift of 
His own Son, on whom the Lord 'laid the iniquity of us all.' 
The great difficulty in dealing with these people is to make the 
subject plain. The minds of the auditors cannot be under- 
stood by one who has not mingled much with them. They 
readily pray for the forgiveness of sins, and then sin again ; 



128 LIVINOSTOITE'S JOUBNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

confess the evil of it, and there the matter ends. I shall not 
often advert to their depravity. My practice has always been 
to apply the remedy \^;ith all possible earnestness, but never 
to allow my mind to dwell on the dark shades of men's 
characters." 

The confluence of the Leeambye and Leeba was reached on 
the 27th of December. Just below it the banks of the former 
are twenty feet high, and are composed of marly sandstone. 
These are covered with trees, and on the left is the tsetse, 
there being also many elephants. The floods cover these 
banks ; but as they do not remain long, the trees are not de- 
stroyed. On the riglit bank is the Manga, a country of grass, 
with but few trees. Flocks of green pigeons abound among 
the trees. Large shoals of flsli of various kinds come down 
the Leeambye with the floods. Many descriptions of flsh are 
left by the retiring waters all along the Barotse valley in large 
numbers, and are preserved by the people for future use. 
But they are not able to consume the abundance with which 
they are furnished, and an immense quantity is, in some in- 
stances, left to putrefy and be lost. There are many hippo- 
potami everywhere along the river. 

From the confluence downwards, as far as Mosioatunya, 
there are many long reaches of deep water. In some parts 
there are sand-banks, but in others there are many miles free 
from such obstructions ; for example, beyond the sand-banks 
below the confluence of the Leoti, there is a free space of a 
hundred miles reaching to the river Simah, in which our ordi- 
nary river steamers could ply at all seasons of the year. Again, 
there are hindrances in the form of cataracts and rapids ; 
these are between Simah and Katima-melolo ; but from the 
latter place to the confluence of the Chobe there must be not 
far from a hundred miles of a river capable of being safely 
navigated. The part of the country througli which the river 
flows is abundantly fertile, as appears from the strong, rank 
growths which it naturally produces. It is capable of support- 
ing millions. 

Ascending the Leeba, the water is found to be darker than 
that of the main stream, which here assumes the name of the 
Kabompo. The Leeba flows with steady calmness, and receives 
many small streams on either side. It winds its placid way 
through beautiful meadows. At certain seasons these liave the 
look of a carefully kept park. There are vast numbers of 
flowers, and many bees, there being abundance of honey in the 
woods. There are numbers oi' alligators in the river ; but 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 129 

tliese avoid tlie presence of man, tlieir increase in number being 
prevented by the fact that the natives gather their eggs and eat 
them with much relish. The egg is about the size of that of a 
goose. Immediately on the young being hatched, tiie dam leads 
them to the water, the nests being usually about ten or twelve 
feet distant, and then they are entirely left to provide for 
themselves. 

The Leeba has but little flood in it. There are not many 
varieties, nor any great number of birds or lish ; nor is the 
game abundant along its banks. It chiefly consists of the zebra, 
the buffalo, and a small antelope. There is much superstition 
among the people, and now and then indications of the pres- 
ence of idol worship. The latter, however, are rare. The 
chiefs are frequently women. Livingstone, on visiting one of 
these named Manenko, found her arrayed in oil and red ochre, 
with numerous ornaments on her head, and wrists, and ankles, 
and person — ;her people, so far as true garment was concerned, 
being much more amply clothed than herself. She was '' a 
tall strapping woman about twenty." Her husband, Sambanza, 
was clothed in a kilt of green and red baize, and was armed 
with a spear and broadsword of antique form. All communi- 
cation was through him to her, to whom he invariably passed it 
on. It is always impolitic and unsafe to pass a chief without 
explaining one's purpose and design. 

The houses in the villages which these people occupy are sep- 
erate dwellings, and well stockaded. An enemy coming in the 
night would find it difiicult to effect an entrance. Bows and 
arrows, not guns, as farther south, are their arms ; but they have 
cleared the country of game as effectually as in places where 
tire-arms are in use. 

The forests become more dense the farther north one goes, 
and in these forests are to be found many artificial beehives. 
These consist of about five feet of the bark of a tree fifteen or 
eighteen inches in diameter. Two incisions are made quite 
round the tree at a distance of about five feet from each other, 
and then a slit is made from the one to the other. Next day 
it is detached from the tree. The slit is sewed up, or the sides 
are pegged together — ends are made with grass rope, an open- 
ing in the centre being left for the bees, and the hive is com- 
plete. Tliese hives are placed horizontally on high trees, and 
in this way is collected all the wax exported from Benguela to 
Loanda. In the rainy seasons great quantities of mushrooms 
are to be found. The deep gloom of this forest-covered land 
contrasts strongly with the blinding glare of the Kalahari ; 
9 



130 LIYII^OSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

and, though constantly soaked and steamed from day to day, 
much enjoyment may be experienced by the traveller. Every 
now and again one emerges from the gloom of the forest into 
the light and beauty of some small valley, and the villages are 
just about as numerous as the valleys. 

Livingstone was desirous of continuing his ascent of the 
Leeba, as it still seemed to flow from the direction in which he 
must go in order to reach Loanda, but Manenko insisted so 
strenuously on his visiting her brother Shinte, or Kabompo, 
the greatest Balonda chief in this part of the country, and his 
followers were so indisposed to encounter tribes up the river 
who were represented as hostile, that he was compelled to 
yield. Shinte's capital lay some distance inland, and an exten- 
sive plain, which in the rainy season is ankle-deep in water, 
had to be crossed in order to reach it. They started from the 
Leeba on the morning of the 11th of January (1854) escorted 
by a numerous party headed by Manenko, who led them 
through the intervening villages in a style worthy of the occa- 
sion of the fii'st visit of a white man to the country. 

" After a short march on the 16th, we came to a most lovely 
valley about a mile and a half wide, and stretching away east- 
ward up to a low prolongation of Monakadzi. A small stream 
meanders down the centre of this pleasant green glen : and on 
a little rill, which flows into it from the western side, stands the 
town of Kabompo, or, as he likes best to be called, Shinte. 
(Lat. 12° 37' S., long. 22° 47' E.) When Manenko thought 
the sun was high enough for us to make a lucky entrance, we 
found the town embowered in banana and other tropical trees 
having great expansion of leaf ; the trees are straight, and pre- 
sent a complete contrast to those of the Bechuanas, which are 
all very tortuous. Here, too, we first saw native huts with 
square walls and round roofs. The fences or walls of the 
courts which surround the huts are wonderfully straight, and 
made of upright poles a few inches apart, with strong grass or 
leafy bashes neatly woven between. In the courts were small 
plantations of tobacco, and a little solanaceous plant which the 
Balonda use as a relish ; also sugar-cane and bananas. 

"We were honored next day with a grand reception by 
Shinte about eleven o'clock. Sambanza claimed the honor of 
presenting us, Manenko being slightly indisposed. The kotla, 
or place of audience, was about a hundred yards square, and 
two graceful specimens of a species of banian stood near one 
end ; under one of these sat Shinte, on a sort of throne covered 
with a leopard's skin. He had on a checked jacket, and a kilt 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 131 

of scarlet baize edged with green ; many strings of large beads 
hung from his neck, and his limbs were covered with iron and 
copper armlets and bracelets ; on his head he wore a helmet 
made of beads woven neatly together, and crowned with a 
gi-eat bmich of goose-feathers. Close to him sat three lads 
with large sheaves of arrows over their shoulders. 

'• AVhen we entered the kotla, the whole of Manenko's party 
saluted Shinte by clapping their hands, and Sambanza did 
obeisance by rubbing his chest and arms with ashes. One of 
the trees being unoccupied, I retreated to it for the sake of the 
shade, and my whole party did the same. We were now about 
forty yards from the chief, and could see the whole ceremony. 
The different sections of the tribe came forward in. the same 
way that we did, the headman of each making obeisance with 
ashes wliich he carried with him for the purpose ; then came 
the soldiers, all armed to the teeth, running and shouting 
toward us, with their swords drawn, and their faces screwed up 
so as to appear as sa^'age as possible, for the purpose, I thought, 
of trying whether they could not make us take to our heels. 
As we did not, they turned round toward Shinte and saluted 
him, then retired. When all had come and were seated, then 
began the curious capering usually seen in pichos. A man 
starts up, and imitates the most approved attitudes observed in 
actual fight, as tlirowing one javelin, receiving another on the 
shield, springing to one side to avoid a third, running backward 
or forward, leaping, etc. This over, Sambanza, and the spokes- 
man of Nyamoana stalked backward and forward in front of 
Shinte, and gave forth, in a loud voice, all they had been able 
to learn, either from myself or people, of my past history and 
connection with the Makololo ; the return of the captives ; the 
wish to open the country to trade ; the Bible as a word from 
lieaven ; the white man's desire for the tribes to live in peace : 
he ought to have taught the Makololo that first, for the Balonda 
never attacked them, yet they had assailed the Balonda : per- 
haps he is fibbiug, perhaps not ; they rather thought he was ; 
but as the Balonda had good hearts, and Shinte had never done 
liarm to any one, he had better receive the white man well, and 
send him on his way. When nine speakers had concluded 
their orations, Shinte stood up, and so did all the people. He 
had maintained true African dignity of manner all the while, 
but my people remarked that he scarcely ever took his eyes off 
me for a moment. About a thousand people were present, ac- 
cording to my calculation, and three hundred soldiers. The 



132 LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNET ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

snii had now become hot ; and the scene ended by the Mam- 
bari discharging their guns." 

Livingstone stayed ten days at Shinte's, and was on tliL 
whole kindly entertained, though he suffered part of the time 
from another attack of fever, and was teased by the irrepressi- 
ble curiosity of the people. On the 26th of January he started 
westward on his journey toward the Portuguese territory. 
Sliinte furnished eight men to assist in carrying the baggage, 
but could only provide guides for a short distance. After 
travelling '^vq days they struck the Leeba again, in lat. 12"^ 
(S' S., and crossed it in canoes furnished by the natives. Be- 
yond the river they came upon a plain twenty miles wide, and 
flooded witli water. This entire region is intersected with 
branches and feeders of the Leeba, some of which the party 
were obliged to ford, the water often covering all of the oxen 
except their lifted heads. Livingstone was obliged to carry 
liis watch in his arm-pit as the only spot where it could be kept 

Onward is a branch of the Lokalueje, which was crossed on 
the 6tli of Febrnary Like all branches of great rivers in this 
country, it is named after tlie main stream Kuana Kalueje, or 
child of Kalueje. Hippopotami are found in the Lokalueje. 
It is therefore always of considerable depth. In the rainy sea- 
son it is about forty yards in breadth, and at other times is prob- 
ably about half that width. The Lokalueje winds from north- 
east to south-west into the Leeba. The whole of this territory, 
the Londa, is rich in natural pasturage, and in the grains which 
are sown by the inhabitants of the villages which occupy the 
higher lands. Great numbers of fish spread themselves ovfer the 
flooded plains, and, as the waters recede, of course try to find 
tlieir way back to the rivers. The Balonda make dykes across 
the outlets, and by placing creels in the narrow openings 
which are left, so catch many, which they dry in smoke, and 
find a likeable addition to their more ordinary food. Nets are 
not common ; but sometimes a hook is used. 

The traveller next reached the villege of Soana Molopo, a half 
brother of the Katema to whose town Shintc's guides were to 
lead him, a few miles beyond the Lokalueje. Beyond is a 
stream in the rainy season forty yards wide, and called Mona- 
Kalueje, or brother of Kalueje, since it flows into that river. 
Crossing the river, the same sort of woodland and meadow as 
before was reached, swarming with buffaloes, elands, koodoos, 
and antelopes. 

Among these tribes, when a chief dies, a number of his peo- 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. I33 

pie are killed that tliey may become liis servants in the other 
Avorld. The Earotse have the same custom ; and so it is in 
many parts of Africa. The chiefs have absolute power and 
are very tyrannical. When Matiamvo, a chieftain who died 
just before Livingstone's arrival in his territory, took a fancy 
to anything, he vv^ould have it. If a slave-trader visited hira, 
he would seize the whole of his goods, keep them for some 
days, and then send a party to surprise some village of con- 
siderable size, having the headman killed, that he might sell 
the inhabitants to pay for the goods. If any asked if Mati- 
amvo did not know that he was a man, and that in another 
state a great Lord would judge him, the reply was sure to be, 
as it has been, " We do not go up to God, as white men go ; 
we are put into the ground." Even where there is any faint 
idea of a future state, there is no conception of heaven ; it is 
supposed that the soul is always somewhere near to the place 
where the body lies. 

Crossing the river Lotembwa on the 13th of February, the 
town of the great chief Katema was reached, about eight miles 
distant. It is a straggling town — more a collection of vil- 
lages than a town (lat. 11° 35^ W S., long. 22° 27' E.). 

" l^Q^t morning," says Livingstone, " we had a formal presen- 
tation, and found Katema seated on a sort of throne, with 
about three hundred men on the ground around, and thirty 
women, who were said to be his wives, close behind him. The 
main body of the people were seated in a semicircle, at a dis- 
tance of fifty yards. Each party had its own headman sta- 
tioned at a little distance in front, and, when beckoned by the 
chief, came near him as councillors. Intemese gave our his- 
tory, and Katema placed sixteen large baskets of meal before 
us, half a dozen fowl, and a dozen eggs, and expressed a regret 
that we had slept hungry : he did not like any stranger to suf- 
fer want in his town ; and added, ' Go home, and cook and 
eat, and you w^ll then be fit to speak to me at an audience I 
will give you to-morrow.' He was busily engaged in hearing 
the statements of a large body of fine young men who had fled 
from Kangenke, chief of Lobale, on account of his selling 
their relatives to the native Portuguese who frequent his coun- 
try. Katema is a tall man, about forty years of age, and his 
head was ornamented with a helmet of beads and feathers. 
He had on a snuff-brown coat, with a broad band of tinsel 
down the arms, and carried in his hand a large tail made of 
the caudal extremities of a number of gnus. This had charms 
attached to it, and ke continued waving it in front of himself 



134 LIYINGSTOWE'S JOUENEY ACROSS TBE CONTINENT. 



all the time we were there. He seemed in good spirits, laugh- 
ing heartily several times. When we arose to take leave, all 
rose with us, as at Shinte's. 

" Returning next morning, Katema addressed me thus : ' I 
am the great Moene (lord) Katema, the fellow of Matiamvo. 
There is no one in the country equal to Matiamvo and me. I 
have alvv^ays lived here, and my forefathers too. There is the 
house ill which my fatlier lived. You found no human skulls 
near the place where you are encamped. I never killed any 
of the traders ; they all come to me. I am the great Moene 
Katema, of w^hom you have heard.' lie looked as if he had 
fallen asleep tipsy, and dreamed of his greatness. On explain- 
ing my objects to him, he promptly pointed out three men 
who would be our guides, and explained that the north-west 
path was the most direct, and that by which all traders came, 
but that the water at present standing on the plains would 

reach up to the loins ; he 
would therefore send us 
by a more northerly route, 
which no trader had yet 
traversed. This was more 
suited to our wishes, for 
we never found a path safe 
that had been trodden by 
slave-traders." 

While at Katema, Liv- 
ingstone was struck with 
the musical powers of the 
people. One of their in- 
struments is represented 



in the engraving. 

To this great chief were 
presented a few articles 
which pleased him much 
— " a small shawl, a razoi*, 
three bunches of beads, 
some buttons, and a pow- 
der-horn." When asked 
what could be brought back to him on the return journey from 
Loanda, he replied, " Everything of the white people would be 
acceptable, and he would receive anything thankfully ; but the 
coat he had then on was old, and he would like another." 
The subject of the Bible was introduced; but his attention 
could not be obtained or kept except by personal compliments. 
Livingstone had another attack of fever while living at the 




MAKIMBA MUSICIAN. 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOUENET ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 135 

town of Katema, but on the SOth of February set out on his 
westward journey. The Lolo is a considerable stream not far 
from the town of Katema, with five tributary rivers, the Lish- 
ish, Liss, or Lice, Kalileme, Ishidish, and Molong. E'one of 
these is large in itself, but when united the body of w^ater is 
far from being despicable. Four or five miles distant is Lake 
Dilolo, the small end of which is like a river a quarter of a 
mile broad, and abounds in fish and hippopotami. At its 
wider part it is about three miles, and is about seven or eight 
long. The people of Katema keep singing-birds in cages, and 
such birds, of various kinds, abound in the woods. It is re- 
markable that, notwithstanding the number of song-birds and 
pigeons, there is a general paucity of animal life in other 
forms. Game and the larger kinds of fowl are scarce, and 
many of the rivers are almost destitute of fish. Such is the 
variety of nature within the space of not many miles. 

Beyond Lake Dilolo is a large plain about twenty miles in 
breadth. This plain it is, of course, difiicult to cross in the 
rainy season, it being covered with water. Level as it is, the 
tavellers found it to be the w^ater-shed between the southern 
and northern rivers ; on the one side of it these fiow in one 
direction, and, on the other, in the opposite. Those which 
flow in a northern direction fall into the Kasia, or Loke. The 
trees in this district are thickly planted, and very high — many 
of them having sixty or eighty feet of clean trunk. These 
trees are on the banks of the rivers. 

The villages in this vicinity are frequently visited by the 
Mambari, in the interests of the slave-trade ; and in that trade 
they exercise the most ruthless and barbarous cruelty : the 
older members of a family are killed off, that they may not be 
able to ofi:'er present resistance or give future trouble — trouble 
by enchantments or otherwise. The belief in the power of 
enchantment is widely prevalent. Gunpowder is in great 
demand as an article of barter; next to that English calico. 
Gold is not valued. Trade can be carried on only b}^ ex- 
change. 

The Kasai, or Loke, the great river of this district, is a beau- 
tiful stream, perliaps one hundred yards broad, fringed with 
rich wooding, and flanked with fertile meadows on both its 
banks. " Though you sail along it for months," say the peo- 
ple of the place, " you will not see the end of it." The ford 
of the Loke is in 11° 16' W S. lat., and was reached on Feb- 
ruary 27th. Katende, the local chief, rigorously exacts tribute 
from all who pass through his country. JBeyond his principal 



136 LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT, 

town tliere is a small river, and, even there, there is civilization 
enough to have erected a bridge, toll being demanded of all 
travellers. Nor would the people of these parts give thera 
anything except in the way of sale. 

iPassing onwards, the villages of the Kasabi were reached, 
and beyond these lies the territory of the Chiboque. 

The population of the central parts of the country, traversed 
by Livingstone on this journey, is large when compared with 
that of the Cape Colony or the Bechuana country. The 
amount of cultivated land is small, compared with what :^t 
mio-ht be. Irrigation at the cost of but little labor is abun- 
dantly provided for by many ever-nowing streams ; and yet 
miles of country are absolutely waste ; there is not even game 
to eat off the fine natural pasturage. The people of this region 
are not all black — many are bronze in color. The dialects 
spoken in the extreme south, whetlier Hottentot or Kaffre, 
bear a close affinity to those of the tribes immediately to the 
north of them, and glide into each other with so many affini- 
ties and in such a manner as indicates plainly the fact that 
they are cognate tongues. Near the equator it is more diffi- 
cult to detect the fact ; but even there it requires only a small 
amount of attention and reflection to find that all the dialects 
of these parts belong to but two families of languages, and that 
these merge into each other. 

When Livingstone reached the village of Njambi, one of the 
Chiboque chiefs, it was on Saturday, and, according to his 
custom, he hoped to be able not only to spend a quiet Sunday, 
but to find an opportunity of preaching to the people. But he 
was disappointed. Their provisions being spent, he ordered a 
tired riding-ox to be slaughtered, and sent the hump and ribs 
to Njambi with the message that this w^as the customary token 
of respect to chiefs in the part from which he had come. 
Next morning he received an impudent reply, with a present 
of meal. Scorning the meat which had been presented, 
Njambi demanded either a man, an ox, a gun, powder, cloth, 
or a shell ; and, in the event of refusal, he intimated his in- 
tention to prevent the further progress of the party. The 
servants who brought the message intimated that when they 
were sent to the Mambari, they had always received a quantity 
of cloth for their master, and that they now expected the 
same. Thus has the curse of slave-dealing infected the whole 
of these regions with a cruel cupidity in whose path no hos- 
pitality, no humanity can be allowed to stand. 

" We." says Livingstone, " heard some of the Chiboque re- 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 137 

mark, ^ They have only five guns ; ' and, about mid-day, 
Njambi collected all his people, and surrounded our encamp- 
ment. Their object was evidentl}^ to plunder us of every- 
thing. My men seized their javelins, and stood on the defen- 
sive, while the young Chiboque had drawn their swords and 
brandished them with great fury. Some even pointed their 
guns at me, and nodded to each other, as much as to sav, 
' This is the way we shall do with him.' I sat on my canjjj- 
stool, with my double-barrelled gun across my knees, and in- 
vited the chief to be seated also. When he and his counsellors 
had sat down on the ground in front of me, I asked what crime 
we had committed, that he had come armed in that way. He 
replied that one of my men, Pitsane, while sitting at the fire 
that morning, had, in spitting, allowed a small quantity of 
saliva to fall on the leg of one of his men, and this ' guilt ' he 
wanted to be settled by the fine of a man, ox, or gun. Pitsane 
admitted the fact of a little saliva having fallen on the 
Chiboque, and in proof of its being a pure accident mentioned 
that he had given the man a piece of meat, by way of making 
friends, and wiped it off with his hand as soon as it fell. In 
reference to a man being given, I declared that we were all 
ready to die rather than give up one of our number to be a 
slave ; that my men might as well give me as I give one of 
them, for we were all free men. ' Then you can give the gun 
with which the ox was shot.' As we heard some of his people 
even now remarking that we had only ' five guns,' we declined, 
on the ground that, as they were intent on plundering us, giv- 
ing a gun would be helping them to do so. 

" This they denied, saying they wanted the customary trib- 
ute only. I asked what right they had to demand payment 
for leave to tread on the ground of God, our connnon Father ? 
If we trod on their gardens, we would pay, but not for march- 
ing on land which was still God's, and not theirs. They did 
not attempt to controvert this, because it is in accordance with 
their own ideas. 

" My men now entreated me to give something ; and after 
asking the chief if he reall}^ thought the affair of the spitting 
a matter of guilt, and receiving an answer in the afiirmative, I 
gave him one of m}^ shirts. The young Chiboque were dis- 
satisfied, and began shouting and brandishing their swords for 
a greater fine. 

" As Pitsane felt that he had been the cause of this disagree- 
able affair, he asked me to add something else. I gave a 
bunch of beads; but the counsellors objected this time, so I 



138 LIVINGSTONE'S JOUBNET ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

added a large handkerchief. The more I yielded, the more 
unreasonable their demands became, and at every fresh de- 
mand a sliout was raised by tlie armed party, and a rush made 
around us with brandishment of arms. One young man uiade 
a charge at my head from behind, but I quickly br jught 
round the muzzle of my gun to his mouth, and he retreated. 
I pointed him out to the chief, and he ordered him to retire a 
little. I felt anxious to avoid tlie effusion of blood ; and 
though sure of being able with my Makololo, who had been 
drilled by Sebituane, to drive off twice the number of our 
assailants, thongli now a large body, and well armed with 
spears, swords, arrows, and gnns, I strove to avoid actual 
collision. My men were quite unprepared for this exhibition, 
but behaved witli admirable coolness. The chief and coun- 
sellors, by accepting my invitation to be seated, had placed 
themselves in a trap, for my men very quietly surrounded 
them, and made them feel that there was no chance of escap- 
ing their spears. I then said that, as one thing after another 
had failed to satisfy them, it was evident that they wanted to 
fight, while we only wanted to pass quietly through the coun- 
tr}^ ; that they must begin first, and bear the guilt before God ; 
we would not fight till they had struck the first blow. I then 
sat silent for some time. It was rather trying for me, because 
I knew that the Chiboque would aim at the white man first ; 
but I was careful not to appear fiurried, and, having four 
barrels ready for instant action, looked quietly at the savage 
scene around. The Chiboque countenance, by no means 
handsome, is not improved by the practice of filing the teeth 
to a point. The chief and counsellors, seeing that they were 
in more danger than I, did not choose to follow our decision 
that they should begin by striking the first blow, and then see 
what we could do, and w^ere perhaps influenced by seeing the 
air of cool preparation which some of my men displayed, at 
the prospect of a work of blood." 

A compromise was, at last, effected — an ox was given and 
accepted, and the party passed on. Slavery w^as at the bottom 
of the mischief. These people had been accustomed to get a 
slave or two from every dealer who passed them. The poor 
slaves of a gang had cost but little, and such a gift could easily 
be spared, and the people w^ere debauched through whose 
borders the traffic had to pass. 

On the west of the Chiboque of Xjambi the slave-trade is 
vigorously prosecuted. Learning this, and being fully aware 
of the constant difficulties in which it w^ould involve him, Liv- 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOUBNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 139 

ingstoiie resolved to alter his course and strike away to the 
]^. N. E., in the hope that at some point farther north he 
might find an exit to the Portuguese settlement of Cassange. 
He first proceeded due north, and next day reached the 
CJiilume, a small stream which flows into the Longe, and that 
into the Chihombo, a feeder of the Kasai. They reached the 
Chihombo on the 10th of March; it is a river of considerable 
size, flowing E. N. E. Crossing this, they traversed a succes- 
sion of open lawns and deep forests. A remarkable peculiarity 
of the forests of this country is the absence of thorns. In the 
regions farther south there are thorns of every size and shape ; 
here all the trees are thornless with but two exceptions — one a 
species of nux vomica, and another, the grapple-plant, which 
has so many hooked thorns as to cling most tenaciously to any 
animal to wdiich it may become attached. 

Forward some miles is the Hiver Loajima, another tributary 
of the Kasai, which was reached on the 23d of March. Tlie 
people here are anything but friendly to strangers or travellers, 
and Livingstone barely escaped collision with a party of them 
headed by an old man named lonza Panza. Their usual de- 
mand of a party is a man, an ox, a tusk, or a gun. They be- 
long to the Chiboque, and have all their customs. The proba- 
ble reason for this general demand of tribute is to be found in 
the fact that the slave-traders are very much at the mercy of the 
chiefs through whose country they must pass. Slaves may run 
away at any moment, and so the traders might lose their whole 
property, without the aid of the chiefs. To such lengths did the 
Bangala, a tribe in this quarter, proceed a few years ago, that 
they compelled the Portuguese traders to pay for water, wood, 
and even grass — every pretext was invented for imposing fines. 

The village of old lonza Panza (lat. 10° 25' S., long. 20° 
15' E.) is small and embowered in lofty evergreen trees. He 
demanded tribute like the others. Onwards is the river 
Chikapa (lat. 10° 22' S.), forty or fifty yards wide. There is a 
ferry over which travellers are carried in a canoe made out of 
a single piece of bark sew^ed together at the ends. Pay is ex- 
acted at the ferry to a most exorbitant amount, sometimes be- 
fore starting, then in the middle of the stream, and a third 
time on landing. Of course travellers are often wholly at the 
mercy of the natives. 

The parts beyond had been frequently visited by traders, 
and the travellers were less a spectacle to wonder at, and cer- 
tain advantages were expeneuced which were not to be found 
iu more secluded territorv. 



140 LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

Tlie Quilo, or Kweelo, a stream ten yards wide, was reached 
on the 26th of March. Crossing this they were quite in the 
slave-market. The people live on fertile plains, in which a 
small amount of labor suffices for cultivation. Animal food i^ 
scarce, vegetable diet abundant. There were many villages 
In proceeding "W.l^.W., many parties of native traders were met 
with, each carrying some pieces of cloth and salt — salt is a valua- 
ble commodity — with a few beads, to barter for beeswax. They 
were all armed with Portuguese guns, having cartridges and iron 
balls. When they meet a company of travellers, they usually 
stand a few minutes and then present a little salt, and the other 
party gives a bit of ox-hide or some other trifle, and then they part 
with mutual good wishes. There is much variety of character 
indicated by the differences of condition observable in the vil- 
lages. Some are pictures of neatness ; others are covered with 
weeds so high that they almost conceal the huts. Where there 
is care and industry, cotton, tobacco, and other plants are 
grown round the huts. Fowls are kept in cages. 

Just beyond the Quilo they found a well-beaten footpath 
which they were told led straight to Cassange (pronounced 
Kassange), the farthest inland station of the Portuguese in 
Western Africa. 

" As we were now alone," says Livingstone, " and sure of being 
' on the way to the abodes of civilization, we went on briskly 
On the 30th we came to a sudden descent from the high land, 
indented by deep, narrow valleys, over which we had lately 
been travelling. It is generally so steep that it can only be 
descended at particular points, and even there I was obliged to 
dismount, though so weak that I had to be led by my compan- 
ions to prevent my toppling over in walking down. It was 
annoying to feel myself so helpless, for I never liked to see a 
man, either sick or well, giving in effeminately. Below us lay 
the valley of the Quango. If j'ou sit on the spot where Mary 
Queen of Scots viewed the battle of Langside, and look down on 
the vale of Clyde, you may see in miniature the glorious sight 
which a much greater and richer valley presented to our view. 
It is about a hundred miles broad, clothed with dark forest, 
except where the light green grass covers meadow-lands on the 
Quango, which here and there glances out in the sun as it 
wends its way to the north. The opposite side of this great 
valley appears like a range of lofty mountains, and the descent 
into it about a mile, which, measured perpendicularly, may be 
from a thousand to twelve hundred feet. Emerging from the 
gloomy forests of Londa, this magnificent prospect made us 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 14j 

all feel as if a weight had been lifted off our eyelids. A cloud 
was passing across the middle of the valley, from which rolling 
thunder pealed, while above all was glorio js sunlight ; and 
when we went down to the part where we saw it passing, we 
found that a very heavy thunder-shower had fallen under the 
path of the cloud ; and the bottom of the valley, which from 
above seemed quite smooth, we discovered to be intersected and 
furrowed by great numbers of deep-cut streams.'' 

Descending into the valley, they entered the territory of the 
Bashinje, who treated them in a very hostile manner, declined 
to give them food, and threatened to prevent by force the 
further progress of the party ; but a Portuguese half-caste, 
named Cypriano, came to tlieir assistance and enabled them to 
cross the Quango. On the opposite bank the tribes were sub- 
ject to the Portuguese, and all difficulties and dangers were 
over. 

Three days of pretty hard travelling after leaving the 
Quango brought the party to Cassange (in lat. 9° ZT 30'' S. 
and long. IT 49' E.). they still had about 300 miles to 
traverse before they could reach the coast, but, except that 
Livingstone was almost continually sick with fever, the journey 
was accomplished without difficulty, under the guidance of a 
bla(jk militia corporal ; and on the 31st of May (1854) they en- 
tered the city of Loanda. Mr. Gabriel, the only genuine 
Englishman among a population of 12,000 souls, received Living- 
stone with the utmost cordiality ; and thus, after an incessant 
tramp of nearly six months, he found himself again enjoying 
the " luxurious pleasure of a good English bed." 

For four months Livingstone was compelled to remain in 
Loanda, prostrated by successive attacks of fever during the 
greater part of the time, and engaged in the intervals in prep- 
arations for the return journey. During the whole of his 
stay he was treated with the utmost kindness by the officers of 
the English vessels in port, as well as by the local authorities, 
all of whom sent in various contributions to his supplies. 

The Makololo in the meantime were enjoying to the full their 
first glimpse of the wonders of civilization. " Every one," 
says Livingstone, " remarked their serious deportment. They 
viewed the large stone houses and churches in the vicinity of 
the great ocean with awe. A house with two stories was, 
until now, beyond their comprehension. In explanation of 
this strange thing, I had always been obliged to use the word 
for hut ; and as huts are constructed by the poles being let 
into the earth, they never could comprehend how the poles of 



142 LIVINGBTONE'S JOURNEY ACUOSS THE COmiNENT. 

one lint could be founded upon the roof of another, or how 
men could live in the upper story, with the conical roof of the 
lower one in the middla Some Makololo, who had visited 
my little house at Kolobeng, in trying to describe it to their 
countrymen at Linyanti, said, ^ It is not a hut: it is a mountain 
with several caves in it.' ^ 

'' Commander Bedingfield and Captain Skene invited them 
to visit their vessels, the ' Pluto ' and ' Philomel.' Knowing 
their fears, I told them that no one need go if he entertained 
the least suspicion of foul play. Nearly the whole party went ; 
and when on deck, I pointed to the sailors, and said, * Now 
these are all my countrymen, sent by our Queen for tlie pur- 
pose of putting down the trade of those that buy and sell black 
men.' They replied, ' Truly ! they are just like you ! ' and all 
their fears seemed to vanish at once, for they went forward 
among the men, and the jolly tars, acting much as the Makololo 
would have done in similar circumstances, handed them a share 
of the bread and beef which they had for dinner. The com- 
mander allowed them to fire off a cannon ; and having the 
most exalted ideas of its power, they were greatly pleased when 
I told them, ' That is what they put down the slave-trade with.' 
The size of the brig-of-war amazed them. ' It is not a canoe at 
all; it is a town.' The sailors' deck they named ^the kotla;' 
and then, as a climax to their description of this great ark, 
added, ' And what sort of a town is it that you must climb up 
into with a rope ? " 

The objects which Livingstone had in view in opening up 
the country, as stated in a few notes of his journey published 
in the newspapers of Angola, so commended themselves to 
the general government and merchants of Loanda, that a 
handsome present for Sekeletu was granted by the Board of 
Public Works. It consisted of a colonel's complete uniform 
and a horse for the chief, and suits of clothing for all the men 
who had accompanied the traveller to Loanda. The mer- 
clmnts also made a present, by public subscription, of handsome 
specimens of all their articles of trade, and two donkeys for the 
purpose of introducing the breed into his country, as tsetse 
cannot kill this beast of burden. These presents were accom- 
panied by letters from the bishop and merchants. 

Having provided himself with a gOod stock of cotton clotli, 
fresh supplies of ammunition and beads, a good new tent made 
by his friends on board the " Philomel," and given each of his 
men a musket, Livingstone left Loanda on the 20th of Septem- 
ber, 1854:, and passed round by sea to the mouth of the river 



LIVJyOSTOIiE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT, 143 

Bengo. On. the jonrney to Cassange, the party made a de- 
tour to the soutli in order to visit the famous rocks of Fungo 
Adongo, a group of curious column-shaped rocks, each of which 
is upward of 300 feet high. Here they remained some weeks, 
and did not reach Cassange until January 15th, 1855. Leaving 
this town on February 20th, they reached the Quango on the 
28th, and crossed it without molestation at the hands of the 
Bashinje. 

After crossing the Quango, Livingstone determined to leave 
his old route and accompany tlie Fortuguese traders as far as 
the town of Cabongo, in the Londa territory. Tliis route would 
take liira farther to the eastward ; but it would not increase 
the distance to be travelled, and it would enable him to 
avoid the country of the hostile Chiboque and the great swampy 
regions crossed with such difficulty on the outward journey. 
The progress of the party was excessively slow, notwithstanding 
Livingstone's repeated efforts to push on. Two-thirds of the 
time was spent in stoppages, there being only ten travelling 
days in each month. The stoppages were caused by sickness, 
and the necessity of remaining in different parts to purchase 
food ; and also iDecause when one carrier was sick, the rest re- 
fused to carry his load. 

" On reaching the river Chikapa, the 25th of March," says 
Livingstone, " we found it fifty or sixty yards wide, and flowing 
E.N.E. into the Kasai. The adjacent country is of tlie same 
level nature as that part of Londa formerly described ; but, 
having come farther to the eastward than our previous course, 
we found that all the rivers had worn for themselves much 
deeper valleys than at the points we had formerly crossed them. 

" Surrounded on all sides by large gloomy forests, the people 
of these parts have a much more indistinct idea of the geogra- 
phy of their country than those who live in hilly regions. It 
was only after long and patient inquiry that I became fully 
persuaded that the Quilo runs into the Chikapa. As we now 
crossed them both considerably farther down, and were greatly 
to the eastward of our first route, there can be no doubt that 
these rivers take the same course as the others, into the Kasai, 
and that I had been led into a mistake in saying that any of 
them flowed to the westward. The people seemed more slender 
in form, and their color a lighter olive, than any we had hith- 
erto met. The mode of dressing the great masses of woolly 
hair which lay upon their shoulders, together with their general 
features, again reminded me of the ancient Egyptians. Several 
were seen with the upward inclination of the outer angles of 



144 LIVINOSTON'E'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT, 

the eye, but tliis was not general. A few of tlie ladies adopt a 
curious custom of attaching the liair to a hoop which encircles 
the head, giving it somewhat the appearance of the glory round 
the head of the Yirgin. Others w^ear an ornament of woven 
hair and hide adorned w^ith beads. The hair of the tails of 
buffaloes, which are to be found farther east, is sometimes 
added ; w^hile others weave their own hair on pieces of hide 
into the form of buffalo horns, or make a single horn in front. 
Many tattoo their bodies by inserting some black substance be- 
neath the skin, which lea^'es an elevated cicatrix about half an 
inch long : these are made in forms of stars, and other figures 
of no particular beauty. 

" We made a little detour to the southward in order to get 
provisions in a cheaper market. This led us along the rivulet 
called Tamba, where we found the people, who had not been 
visited so frequently by the slave-traders as the rest, rather 
timid and very civil. It was agreeable to get again among the 
uncontaminated, and see the natives look at us without that air 
of superciliousness which is so unpleasant and common in the 
beaten track. The same olive color prevailed. They file their 
teeth to a point, which makes the smile of the women fright- 
ful, as it reminds one of the grin of an alligator. The inhabi- 
tants throughout this country exhibit as great a variety of taste 
as appears on the surface of society among ourselves. Many of 
the men are dandies ; their shoulders are always w^et with the 
oil dropping from their lubricated hair, and ever3^thing about 
them is ornamented in one way or other. Some thrum a musi- 
cal instrument the livelong day, and, when they wake at niglit, 
proceed at once to tlieir musical performance. Many of these 
musicians are too poor to have iron keys to their instruments, 
but make them of bamboo, and persevere, though no one hears 
the music but themselves. Others try to appear warlike by 
never going out of their huts except with a load of bows and 
arrows, or a gun ornamented with a strip of hide for every ani- 
mal they have shot ; and others never go anywhere without a 
canary in a cage. Ladies may be seen carefully tending little 
lap-dogs, w^hich are intended to be eaten. Tlieir villages are 
generally in forests, and composed of groups of irregularly 
planted brown huts, with banana and cotton trees, and tobacco 
growing around. There is also at every hut a high stage erected 
for drying manioc roots and meal, and elevated cages to hold 
domestic fowls. Round baskets are laid on the thatch of the 
huts for the hens to lay in, and on the arrival of strangers, men, 
women, and children ply their calling as hucksters with a great 



LIYINGSTOl^E'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 145 

deal of noisy haggling ; all their transactions are conducted 
with civil banter and good temper." 

On the 8th of June, they forded the river Lotembwa to the 
N". "W. of Dilolo and regained their old path at the town of 
Katema, who received them kindly. The town of old Shinte was 
reached on the 24:th of June, Libonta on the 27th of July, and 
l:^aliele on the 1st of August. Just below Naliele, while de- 
scending the river in a canoe, a hippopotamus struck it with her 
forehead, lifting one half of it quite out of the water, so as 
nearly to overturn it. The force of the butt tilted one of the 
natives out into the river ; but Livingstone and the rest sprang 
to the shore which was only about ten yards away. " Glancing 
back," says Livingstone, " I saw her come to the surface a short 
way off, and look at the canoe, as if to see if she had done much 
mischief. It was a female, whose young one had been speared 
the day before. l!To damage was done except wetting person 
and goods." Sesheke was reached about the middle of Septem- 
ber, and here Livingstone found some goods which had been for- 
warded to liim by Mr. Moffat the year before. 

" Having waited a few days at Sesheke till the horses which 
we had left at Linyanti should arrive, we proceeded to that 
town, and found the wagon, and everything we had left in No- 
vember, 1853, perfectly safe. A grand meeting of all the peo- 
ple was called to receive our report, and the articles which had 
been sent by the governor and merchants of Loanda. I ex- 
plained that none of these were my property, but that they were 
sent to show the friendly feelings of the white men, and their 
eagerness to enter into commercial relations with the Makololo. 
I then requested my companions to give a true account of what 
they had seen. The wonderful things lost nothing in the tell- 
ing, the climax always being that they had finished the whole 
world, and had turned only when there was no more land. One 

flib old gentleman asked : ' Then you reached Ma Eobert (Mrs. 
i.) 1 ' They were obliged to confess that she lived a little be- 
yond the world. The presents were received with expressions 
of great satisfaction and delight ; and on Sunday, when Sekel- 
etu made his appearance at church in his uniform, it attracted 
more attention than the sermon ; and the kind expressions they 
made use of respecting myself were so very flattering that I felt 
inclined to shut my eyes. Their private opinion must have tal- 
lied with their public report, for I very soon received offers 
from volunteers to accompany me to the east coast." 

This journey to the east coast was undertaken by Livingstone 
for the purpose of ascertaining whether the Zambesi river 
10 



146 LiyiNOSTONE'8 JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 

might not be navigable far enough into the interior to serve aa 
a highway of commerce ; his journey to Loanda having con- 
vinced him that it was impracticable to open a wagon-road to 
the west coast. His first intention was to follow the river it- 
self, but to this the Makololo were opposed on account of the 
impassable nature of the country ; and as he was dependent 
upon them for outfit and followers, he was obliged to adopt 
their plan — which was to strike eastward on the northern side of 
the Zambesi to the Kafue, and then descend the former river to 
the first Portuguese station at Tete. 

He left Linyanti on the 3d of November, accompanied by 
Sekeletu with about two hundred followers, who escorted him as 
far as the island of Kalai, two days' journey below the mouth 
of the Chobe. 

" As this was the point," says Livingstone, " from which we 
intended to strike off to the north-east, I resolved on the follow- 
ing day to visit the Falls of Victoria, called by the natives 
Mosioatunya, or, more anciently, Shongwe. Of these we had 
often heard since we came into the country ; indeed, one of the 
questions asked by Sebituane was, 'Have you smoke that sounds 
in yoitr country ? ' They did not go near enough to examine 
them, but, viewing then; wi.th awe at a distance, said, in refer- 
ence to the vapor and noise,.' Mosioatunya ' (smoke does sound 
there). It was previously called Shongwe, the meaning of 
which I could not ascertain. The word for a 'pot' resembles 
this, and it may mean a seething caldron, but I am not certain 
of it. Being persuaded that Mr. Oswell and myself were the 
very first Europeans who ever visited the Zambesi in the centre 
of the country, and that this is the connecting link between the 
known and unknown portions of that river, 1 decided to use the 
same liberty as the Makololo did, and gave tlie only English 
name I have affixed to any part of the country. 

" Sekeletu intended to accompany me, but one canoe only hav- 
ing come instead of the two he had ordered, he resigned it to me. 
After twenty minutes' sail from Kalai we came in sight, for 
ithe first time, of the columns of vapor appropriately called 
"*■ smoke,' rising at a distance of five or six miles, exactly as 
when large tracts of grass are burned in Africa. Five columns 
now arose, and, bending in the direction of the wind, they 
seemed placed against a low ridge covered with trees ; the tops 
of the columns at this distance appeared to mingle with the 
clouds. They were white below, and higher up became dark^ 
so as to simulate smoke very closely. The whole scene was 
•extremely beautiful \ the banks and islands dotted over the 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOUBNET ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 147 

river are adorned with sylvan vegetation of great variety 
of color and form. At the period of our visit several trees were 
spangled over with blossoms. Some trees resemble the great 
spreading oak, others assnme the character of our own elms and 
chestnuts ; but no one can imagine the beauty of the view from 
anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before 
by European eyes ; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed 
upon by angels in their iiigbt. The only want felt is that of 
mountains in the background. The falls are bounded on 
three sides by ridges 300 or 400 feet in heiglit, whicli are cov- 
ered with forest, with the red soil appearing among the trees. 
When about half a mile from the falls, I left the canoe by 
which we had come down thus far, and embarked in a lighter 
one, with men well acquainted with the rapids, who, by passing 
down the centre of the stream in the eddies and still places 
caused by many jutting rocks, brought me to an island situated 
in the middle of the river, and on the edge of the- lip over 
which the water rolls. In comino* hitlier there was dano-cr of 
being swept down by the streams which rushed along on each 
side of the island ; l3ut the river was now low, and we sailed 
where it is totally impossible to go when the water is high. 
But, though we had reached the island, and were within a few 
yards of the spot, a view from which would solve the whole 
problem, I believe that no one could perceive where the vast 
body of, water went ; it seemed to lose itself in the earth, the 
opposite lip of the fissure into which it disappeared being only 
80 feet distant. At least I did not comprehend it until, creep- 
ing with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large rent 
which had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zambesi, 
and saw that a stream of a thousand yards broad leaped down 
a hundred feet, and then became suddenly compressed into a 
space of fifteen or twenty yards. The entire falls are simply a 
crack made in a hard basaltic rock from the right to the left 
bank of the Zambesi, and then prolonged from the left bank 
away through thirty or forty miles of hills. If one imagines 
the Thames filled with low, tree-covered hills immediately be- 
yond the tunnel, extending as far as Gravesend, the bed of 
black basaltic rock instead of London mud, and a fissure made 
therein from one end of the tunnel to the other down through 
the keystones of the arch, and prolonged from the left end of 
the tunnel through thirty miles of hills, the pathway being 100 
feet down from the bed of the river instead of what it is, 
with the lips of the fissure from SO to 100 feet apart, then 
fancy the Thames leaping bodily into the gulf, and forced 



148 LIVmGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS TEE CONTINENT. 

there to change its direction, and flow from the right to the 
left bank, and then rush boiling and roaring through the hills, 
he may have some idea of what takes place at this, the most 
wonderful sight 1 had witnessed in Africa. In looldng^ down 
into the fissure on the right of the island, one sees nothing but 
a dense white cloud, which, at the time we visited the spot, had 
two bright rainbows on it. (The sun was on the meridian, and 
the declination about equal to the latitude of the place.) 
From this cloud rushed up a great jet of vapor exactly like 
steam, and it mounted 200 or 300 feet high ; there condensing, 
it changed its hue to that of dark smoke, and came back in a 
constant shower, which soon wetted us to the skin. This 
shower falls chiefly on the opposite side of the fissure, and a 
few yards back from the lip there stands a straight hedge of 
evergreen trees, whose leaves are always wet. From their roots 
a number of little rills run back into the gulf, but, as they flow 
down the steep wall there, the column of vapor, in its ascent, 
licks them up clean off the rock, and away they mount again. 
They are constantly running down, but never reach the bottom. 

" On the loft of the island we see the water at the bottom, a 
wliite rolling mass moving away to the prolongation of the fis- 
sure, which branches off near the left bank of the river. A 
piece of the rock has fallen off a spot on the left of the island, 
and juts out from the water below, and from it I judged the 
distance which the water falls to be about 100 feet. The walls 
of this gigantic crack are perpendicular, and composed of one 
homogeneous mass of rock. . . . 

^' I have mentioned that we saw five columns of vapor ascend- 
ing from this strange abyss. They are evidently formed by the 
compression suffered by the force of the water's own fall into 
an unyielding wedge-shaped space. Of the five columns, two 
on the right and one on the left of the island were the largest, 
and the streams which formed them seemed each to exceed in 
(size the falls of the Clyde at Stonebyres when that river is in 
flood. This was the period of low water in the Leeambye ; but, 
as far as I could guess, there was a flow of five or six hundred 
yards of water, which, at the edge of the fall, seemed at least 
three feet deep." 

Parting from Sekeletu on the 26th of ITovember, and accom- 
panied by 114 Makololo to carry the ivory tusks to the coast, 
Livingstone struck northward and travelled for a few days over a 
beautiful but uninhabited district. Large game was abun- 
dant ; in the distance they saw buffaloes, elands, hartbeests, gnus, 
and elephants, all very tame, as there was no one to disturb 



LIVIN'OSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. I49 

their haunts. Lions, which always accompany other large ani- 
mals, roved around them, but, as it was moonlight, there was 
no danger. One evening, while standing on a mass of granite 
a short distance away, one began to roar at Livingstone, though 
it was still light. 

On December 3d, they crossed the river Mozuma, and en- 
tered the territory of the Batoka, or Batonga, which swarm with 
inhabitants. These people were very friendly, and brought 
presents of maize and other food. Their mode of salutation, as 




BATOKA SALUTATIONS. 



described by Livingstone, is probably, the most curious on 
record : " They throw themselves on their backs on the ground, 
and, rolling from side to side, slap the outside of their thighs as 
expressions of thankfulness and welcome, uttering the words 

* Kina bomba.' This method of salutation was to me very dis- 
agreeable, and I never could get reconciled to it. I called out 

* Stop, stop ; I don't want that ; ' but they, imagining I was 
dissatisfied, only tumbled about more furiously, and slapped 
their thighs with greater vigor." 

Pressing slowly eastward, day after day, the party reached 



150 LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 

the Kaf ue on the 18th of December, and the Zambesi about ten 
days later. " As we approached the Zambesi," says Livingstone, 
" the country became covered with broad-leaved bushes, pretty 
thickly planted, and we had several times to shout to elephants 
to get out of our way. At an open space, a herd of buffaloes 
came trotting up to look at our oxen, and it was only by shoot- 
ing one that I made them retreat. The meat is very much like 
that of an ox, and this one was very line. The only danger we 
actually encountered was from a female elephant, with three 
young ones of different sizes. Charging through the centre of 
our extended line, and causing the men to throw down their 
burdens in a great hurry, she received a spear for her temerity. 
I never 'saw an elephant with more than one calf before. We 
knew that we were near the Zambesi again, even before the 
great river burst upon our sight, by the numbers of water-fowl 
we met. I killed four geese with two shots, and, had I fol- 
lowed the wishes of my men, could have secured a meal of 
water-fowl for the whole party. I never saw a river with so 
much animal life around and in it, and, as the Barotse says, 
' Its fish and fowl are always fat.' "When our eyes were glad- 
dened by a view of its goodly broad w^atere, we found it very 
much larger than it is even above the fall. One might try to 
make his voice iieard across it in vain. Its flow was more rapid 
than near Sesheke, being often four and a half miles an hour." 

Still pressing forward, through hostile tribes, and over a 
rough and difficult region, where food could be procured only 
with the greatest difficulty, they reached the confluence of the 
Loangwa and the Zambesi on the 14th of January, 1856. Just 
below here, warned by the rumors of a war between the natives 
and the Portuguese, they crossed the river and struck off south- 
wards, directly toward Tete, which was reached, after many ex- 
citiug adventures, on March 3d. At Tete, Livingstone remained 
till the 22d of April, recruiting his health, and making provision 
for the return of the Makololo bearers ; most of whom were to 
go no farther. The toils and dangers of the long journey were 
now over, and from this point Livingstone sailed down the Zam- 
besi to Kilimane {or Quillimane), a Portuguese port situated at 
its mouth. 

News from home awaited him here, together with much- 
needed supplies ; and six weeks later, on the 12th of July, he 
sailed for the Mauritius in the man-of-war " Frolic." He was 
accompanied by one of the Makololo, named Sekwebu, to whom 
he wished to show the achievements of civilization, in order that 
ke might report them to his countrymen. But Sekwebu was 



LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 151 

destined to a more melancholy fate. " He seemed a little be- 
wildered, everything on board a man-of-war being so new and 
strange ; but he remarked to me several times, ' i our country- 
men are very agreeable,' and, ' What a strange country this is 
— all water together ! ' He also said that he now understood 
why I used the sextant. When we reached the Mauritius a 
steamer came out to tow us into the harbor. The constant 
strain on his untutored mind seemed now to reach a climax, 
for during the night he became insane. I thought at Urst 
that he was intoxicated. He had descended into a boat, and^ 
when I attempted to go down and bring him into the ship, he 
ran to the stern and said. ' l^o ! no ! it is enough that I die 
alone. You must not perish ; if 3'ou come, I shall throw my- 
self into the water.' Perceiving that his mind was affected, I 
said, 'Now, Sekwebu, we are going to Ma Robert.' This 
struck a cord in his bosom, and he said, ' Oh yes ; where it 
she, and where is Robert ? ' and he seemed to recover. The of- 
ficers proposed to secure him by putting him in irons ; but, be- 
ing a gentleman in his own country, I objected, knowing that 
the insane often retain an impression of ill-treatment, and I 
could not bear to have it said in Sekeletu's country that I had 
chained one of his principal men as they had seen slaves 
treated. I tried to get him on shore by day, but he refused. 
In the evening a fresh accession of insanity occurred ; he tried 
to spear one of the crew, then leaped overboard, and, though 
he could swim well, pulled himself down hand under hand by 
the chain cable. We never found the body of poor Sekwebu." 
On the 12th of December, 1856, Livingstone was once again 
"in dear old England," after an absence of nearly eleven 
years. 



CHAPTER YIIL 

AlO)EESS0N'S EXPLOEATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

Among the adventurous spirits in whom the ardor of explor* 
ation was aroused by Livingstone's discovery of Lake Ngami, 
there were two whose discoveries have done much to complete 
our knowledge of that portion of South Africa which he had 
opened up in the journeys outlined in the two preceding 
chapters. These were Carl Johann Andersson, a Swede, and 
Francis Galton, an Englishman, who met in Jx)ndon in 1850 
and agreed to enter jointly upon an expedition the object of 
which was to explore the unknown region beyond the northern 
boundary of Cape Colony, and to penetrate from that direction 
to the recently discovered Lake Ngami. 

Reaching Cape Town, J une 23d, 1850, they planned at first 
to proceed northward by the direct route to the Lake, but 
learning that the Boers on the Trans Yaal River (the very line 
of country they proposed taking) had threatened to kill any 
person who would attempt to pass through their territories with 
the intention of penetrating to Lake Ngami, they abandoned 
their plan and sailed up the west coast to Walfisch Bay in lat. 
22° S., from which point the actual distance to the Lake was 
scarcely greater than from Kuruman. 

The first stage of their journey to the interior brought them 
to Scheppmausdorf, a German missionary station, situated on 
the left bank of the Kuisip River. Three weeks were spent 
here in breaking oxen to the yoke and collecting materials for 
an expedition, and it was not until November 13th that they 
were ready to start for Barmen, another missionary station ly- 
ing in the remote interior of Damara-land. 

Andersson describes the Damaras as an exceedingly fine- 
looking race of men, tall and well formed, with a graceful and 
expressive carriage. Their color is dark, but not black ; but 
dirt generally accumulates to such an extent as to make the 
hue of the skin almost totally indistinguishable, while to com- 
plete the disguise, they smear themselves with a profusion of 
red ochre and grease. Both sexes go almost naked, their cloth- 



ANDERSSON'S EXPLOBATIONS IIST SOUTH AFRICA. 153 

ing consisting merely of a sheep or goat skin wrapped loosely 
round the waist or thrown over the shoulders. Boys wear no 
clothing whatever, but the girls wear a kind of apron cut up 
into numberless small strings, which are sometimes ornamented 
with iron and copper beads. Few ornaments are worn by the 
men ; but the women, when they can afford it, wear a profusion 
of iron and copper rings round their wrists and ankles. The 
head-dress of the married women is curious and highly pictur- 
esque, being not unlike a helmet in shape and general appear- 
ance. The men wind strips of leather, sometimes several hun- 
dred feet in length, round their loins, and carry their clubs and 
pipes therein. They are well armed with the assagay, w^iich is 
a sort of lance, bows and arrows, and clubs. They are so skil- 
ful in throwing the Jceni, a stick with a knob on the end, that 
they can even bring down birds on the wing. They lead a 
liomadic life, wandering about the country with enormous herds 
of cattle, and leaving it bare behind them. They swear by 
" the tears of their mothers." 

The best endeavors of the missionaries, at the time of Anders- 
son's visit, had had but little effect in civilizing the Daraaras. 
At first they thought the missionaries intended to plunder them, 
and retired with their herds to the interior. Finding that this 
did not drive them away, they next resolved to exterminate 
them, and were only brought to desist from their purpose by 
the counsel of one of the chiefs. In the course of time tliey 
became more friendly, and some of the poorer classes have set- 
tled in the neighbo'^hood of the missions. To a Damara the 
idea of men visiting them solely from love and charity is 
utterly inconceivable, and they cannot banish a suspicion that 
the motives of the strangers must be interested. 

At Barmen the travellers heard of the existence of a large 
fresh- water lake, called Omanbonde, lying to the southward, 
and resolved to explore it. The region which they would have 
to traverse in order to reach it was totally unknown, and the 
. people were known to be inhospitable, treacherous, suspicious, 
and hostile to strangers ; but they hoped to connect their name 
with the discovery of another "inland sea" in the heart of the 
continent, and the first week in December found them ready to 
start. Their disappointment can be imagined when at noon on 
the 5th of April, after four months of toil and privation and in- 
cessant marching, they reached Lake Omanbonde and found 
a dried up marsh and a patch of reeds! There were indica- 
tions, indeed, that a lake of considerable size existed here in 
those seasons in which plenty of rain fell, and that elephants 



154 ANDERSSON'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

and liippopotami were in the habit of resorting to it at such 
times; but this was but slightly consoling to travellers who 
had come hither in the hope of finding another Lake Ngami. 

As soon as they had recovered from the bitterness of their 
disappointment the travellers began to consider whether they 
should return, or push boldly forward into the interior. 
Among the Damaras they had often heard of a people living a 
considerable distance to the north, who were called the Ovambo 
(or Ovampo), a people of agricultural habits, having permanent 
dwellings, and reported to be industrious and strictly honest. 
The Damaras spoke in raptures of their hospitality and friend- 
liness toward strangers, and represented them as a numerous 
and powerful nation, ruled by a single chief, or king, who was 
of gigantic size. The Ovambo carried on a lively trade with 
the Damaras, to whom they bartered cattle for ironware ; and 
as this proved that the intervening country was passable, An-* 
dersson and Galton determined to make an attempt to reach 
this interesting land. They left Omanbonde accordingly on 
April 12th, and started northward over a fine country well 
supplied with water, and abounding in game, among which were 
elephants and cameleoparda in great numbers. Just after leav- 
ing Okamabuti, the last town in Damara-land, a calamity which 
they had long dreaded befel them : the axle of their large 
wagon broke. As there were no means of mending it quickly, 
and the season was already advanced, they resolved to leave 
the vehicles behind and prosecute the journey by means of 
pack and saddle oxen. No trustworthy guide, however, could 
be procured ; and in endeavoring to make their way without 
one, the travellers were already lost, when they were fortunate 
enough to fall in with a caravan of the Ovambos who were on 
their way to Okamabuti to trade, and who told them that they 
were welcome to accompany them home to Ovambo-land. 

The caravan consisted of twenty-three individuals, but in the 
return journey it numbered 170 persons, many Damaras — 
among them 70 or 80 women — having decided to join it. The 
Ovambos had with them at the start some 200 head of cattle, 
which they had collected by their trading with the Damaras, 
and were ready to set out on the 22d of May. On the 29th of 
May, after a steady march of seven days over a country inhab 
ited only by poor Bushmen, and covered in parts with dense 
thorn coppices which it was almost impossible to penetrate, the 
caravan reached the first cattle-post belonging to the Ovambo. 
This they found swarming with people as well as cattle, the lat- 
ter numbering from three to four thousand ; and immediately 



ANDERSSON'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 155 

on their arrival tliey were surrounded by great numbers of in- 
quisiti\ e natives who had never before seen white men. Here 
they became ])ractically acquainted with the Ovambo method 
of welcoming friends : it consists of smearing fresh butter 
thickly over the face and breast of each individual. 

After a stay of two days, they again moved forward, and on 
the 2d of June entered upon the beautiful and fertile plains of 
Ondonga, the country of the Ovambo. ''Yain," says Andersson, 
" would be any attempt to describe the sensations of delight and 
pleasure experienced by us on that memorable occasion, or to 
give an idea of the enchanting panoramic scene that all at 
once opened on our view. Suffice it to say that, instead of 
the eternal jungles, where every moment we were in danger of 
being dragged out of our saddles by the merciless thorns, the 
landscape now presented an apparently boundless field of yel- 
low corn, dotted with numerous peaceful homesteads, and 
bathed in the soft light of a declining tropical sun. Here and 
there, rose gigantic, wide-spreading, and dark-foliaged timber 
and fruit-trees, while innumerable fan-like palms, either singly 
or in groups, completed the picture. To us it was a perfect 
Elysium, and well r^varded us for every former toil and dis- 
appointment." 

There are no towns or villages in Ovambo-land, but each 
family has a separate homestead, situated in the middle of a 
corn-field and surrounded by high and sto\it palisades. This 
latter was a precaution against the sudden attack of a neigh- 
boring hostile tribe. Two kinds of grain are cultivated : the 
common Kaffre-corn, and another small-grained sort resem- 
bling the " badjera " of India. When the grain is ripe the 
ear is simply cat off, and the remainder is left to the cattle, 
which devour it greedily. Besides grain the Ovambo cultivate 
calabashes, watermelons, pumpkins, beans, and peas. They 
also raise tobacco — though of a very inferior quality. When 
ripe, the leaves and stalks are collected and mashed together 
in a hollow piece of wood by means of a heavy pole. The 
Ovambo have vast herds of cattle, sheep, and goats, and breed 
hogs said to be of enormous size; their other domestic ani- 
mals are dogs and fowls. The travellers were unable to ascer- 
tain either the extent of the country or the density of popula- 
tion, but Andersson concluded, from what he saw, that there 
are about a hundred persons to every square mile. 

At the distance of four days' journey from tlie frontier they 
reached the residence of the redoubtable Nangoro, and notified 
him of their arrival. They were not allowed, however, to en- 



156 ANDERSSON'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

ter the ro^^al enclosures, but a clump of trees was assigned tliem 
for a camping-ground, and three days elapsed before the king 
called upon them, intending b}^ this delay to impress them 
with a due sense of his dignity. He was immensely fat, and 
of a most unwieldy figure, while his state of almost perfect 
nudity showed him off to the greatest possible advantage. His 
excessive fat made him so short-winded, that when Galton ad- 
dressed him eloquently in explanation of their visit to the 
country, he could only grunt when he desired to express either 
approbation or dissatisfaction. 

In common with his men, Nangoro was at first very incredu- 
lous as to the effect of fire-arms — he thought that by blowing 
into the muzzles, the gun could be rendered harmless ; but 
when he saw the depth to which steel-pointed conical balls 
penetrated in a sound tree, he changed his opinion. As for 
the natives who had not yet seen guns, and who had flocked to 
the camp to see the strangers, they were so alarmed that at the 
instant of each discharge, they fell flat on their faces, and re- 
mained so for some little time afterwards. At his next visit 
Nangoro requested them to shoot some elephants which at 
times committed great havoc among his corn-fields. This they 
refused, however, fearing that he would not only keep the ivory 
for himself, but would detain them in the country till all the 
elephants were shot or scared away. 

The Ovambo are decidedly hospitable, and the travellers 
were well entertained. Nangoro furnished them with food 
and a kind of beer brewed from grain ; and every night soon 
after dark there was a ball at the royal residence, at which the 
people danced to the music of the well-known African tomtom 
and a kind of guitar. The features of the Ovambo women, 
though coarse, are not unpl easing, and when young they have 
very good figures. As they grow older, however, their sym- 
metry disappears and they become exceedingly stout and un- 
gainly. One of the causes of this is probably to be found in 
the heavy copper ornaments with which they load their wrists 
and ankles; some of these ankle-rings weigh two or three 
pounds apiece, and they wear a pair on each leg. Moreover, 
their necks, wrists, and hips are almost hidden from view by a 
profusion of shells, cowries, and beads of every size and 
color ; these contribute to their dress. Another cause of their 
losing their good looks in early life is the constant and severe 
labor they are obliged to undergo. No one is allowed to be 
idle in this land of industry. Work begins at sunrise and ends 
at sunset. The hair of both sexes is short, crisp, and woolly* 



ANDER8S0IP8 EXPLOBATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 157 

The men often shave the head, with the exception of the 
crown ; and the women besmear and stiffen tlieir hair with 
grease and a vermilion-colored substance, which, from being 
constantly added to, and pressed npon, gives to the upper part 
of the head a broad and Hat look. The women also smear 
their persons liberally with greese and red ochre. Besides ear- 
rings of beads or shells, the men display but few ornaments. 
BoSi sexes chip the middle tooth of the under jaw on arriving 
at the age of puberty. 

In marked contrast to their neighbors, the Dam'araa and 




^■^^^^^ 



OVAMBO: MAN AKD WIFE. 



Namaqnas, the Ovambo are strictly honest. Indeed, they ap- 
pear to entertain a perfect horror of theft, and told Andersson 
that a man detected in pilfering would be brought into the 
king's presence and there speared to death. "Without permis- 
sion the natives. would not even touch anything ; and the trav- 
ellers could leave their camp entirely unwatched. Nor is 
honesty the only good quality of this people. There is no 
pauperism among them, and the aged and crippled are care- 
fully nursed. The Damaras, on the other hand, w^hen a man 
becomes old and helpless, either carry him into the desert o) 



158 AITBEESSOIPS EXPLORATION'S IM SOUTB AFRICA. 

forest, where he soon falls a prey to wild beasts, or knock hira 
on the head, or leave him to starve on his own hearth. The 
Ovambo are very patriotic and exceedingly fond of their native 
soil. They are offended w^hen asked the number of chiefs by 
whom they are ruled : " We acknowledge only one king ; but 
a Damara," they add, "when possessed of a few cows, con- 
siders himself at once a chieftain." Their morality, however, 
is very low, and pol^^gamy is practised to a great extent, each 
man having as many wives as he can afford to buy. If the 
husband be poor, the price of a wife is two oxen and one cow ; 
but should his circumstances be tolerably flourishing, three 
oxen and two cows are expected. The king, however, is an ex- 
ception to this rule, the honor of the alliance being regarded as 
a sufficient compensation. IN'angoro had profited by this privi- 
lege to such an extent, that his harem contained 106 beauties 
gathered from all quarters of his realm. 

While staying at Nangoro's capital, the travellers heard fre- 
quent mention of a large river about eight days' journey to the 
northward, which flowed to the west and emptied into the sea. 
They had no doubt that this river was no other than the Ku- 
nene (or Cunene), whose mouth had been discovered many 
years before ''^ ; and they determined, if possible, to push on- 
ward and reach it. In order to do this, however, Nangoro's as- 
sistance was absolutely indispensable, and this the surly chief 
positively refused — saying that as they did not choose to kill 
elephants for him, he would not oblige them in this matter. 
Nothing was left, therefore, but for them to retrace their steps 
as speedily as possible, and they took their departure from 
Ovambo-land on June 15th. On the 1st of July, after a fort- 
night's steady travel, they reached their wagons in safety ; and 
about a month later, on the 4th of August, their expedition was 
brought to an end by their arrival in Barmen. 

It was now the intention of the travellers to return to Cape 
Town by the missionary vessel which, once in two years, 
brought stores to Walfisch Bay ; but as its arrival was not ex- 
pected till December, they concluded to use the intervening 
time in one more attempt to reach Lake Ngami. Waiting 
only long enough to replenish their stores, they set out from 
Barmen on August 12th, and after suffering terribly from the 
heat, drought, and scarcity of grain and pasturage between the 



* This river has since been partly explored. It flows into the sea near the 
Great Fish Bay. 



ANDEBSSON'S EXPLORATIONS IlSf SOUTH AFRICA, 159 

few and widely separated watering-places, reached Tunobis, 
or Otjombinde, in lat. 21° 55' S. and long. 21° 65' E., on the 
3d of October. Here they were not above ten days' journey 
from the Lake, but the Bushmen living in the vicinity convinced 
them that the country was then impassable, and they were 
compelled to retrace their weary steps to the coast. Arriving 
at Walfisch Bay, Galton took passage for England, but left 
Andersson his equipage and stores, the latter having resolved 
to remain behind and make still another attempt at reaching 
Lake Ngami after the rainy reason was over. 

Andersson found, however, that in order to secure a reason- 
able chance of success, it would be necessary to supply himself 
more liberally with materials for barter with the natives ; and,, 
accordingly, he secured a herd of cattle by trading with the 
Damaras, and drove them down the coast to Cape Town. His 
speculation was tolerably successful, and having procured the 
necessary supplies, he again sailed for Walfisch Bay, arriving 
there on the 23d of January, 1853. Proceeding at once to 
organize his caravan — which consisted this time of pack and sad- 
dle oxen instead of wagons, he was ready to start from Barmen 
on April 5th ; and following the former route to Tunobis, reached 
the latter place in about a month. Owing to the scarcity of 
food and water, both men and oxen were nearly used up by the 
time of their arrival there ; but concluding that it was as 
dangerous to return as to push forward, he determined to set 
out for the Lake. Andersson himself was anxious to take as 
straight a course as possible ; but the Bushmen again warned 
him that the " field " in that direction was a howling wilder- 
ness, totally destitute of water. They told him, however, that 
by travelling southward a few stages along the dry water-course 
of the Otjombinde, and then striking eastv/ard, he would run 
no risk. This course he adopted ; and after following the dry 
river-bed for several days, turned to the east, and on the third 
day was fortunate enough to find Ghanze, a fountain well 
known to the Bushmen and Griquas, and much frequented by 
the rhinoceros. Having enjoyed there a good deal of shoot- 
ing, and feasted themselves on rhinoceros-flesh, the caravan 
left Ghanze on June 23d, and immediately found themselves 
in a thorny and waterless desert. Two stages farther they 
came upon another and still larger fountain, called Abeghan, 
which was the resort of immense numbers of elephants and 
other large game. Here Andersson resolved to remain for a. 
few days while he sent one of his men, escorted by Bushmen, 
to the Lake to make known his approach to the natives. Le- 



160 AJITDEESSOS'S EXPLORATION'S ZZV SOUTH AFRICA, 

choletebe, the chief, received the messengers kindly, assured 
them he would be glad to see the white man, and even sent 
forward a party of his men to render assistance. 

Though now most eager to reach the goal of his journey, 
Andersson determined to remain for one more night at the 
fountain in order to shoot game. Here he nearly lost his life 
in an adventure which we reproduce, as a specimen of the 
many similar ones which he records in his narrative ; 

" From the constant persecution to which the larger game 
had of late been subjected at Kobis, it had become not only 
scarce, but wary ; and hearing that elephants and rliinoceroses 
still continued to resort to Abeghan, I forthwith proceeded 
there on the night in question. Somewhat incautiously I took 
up my position— alone, as usual — on a narrow neck of land 
dividing two small pools, the space on either side of my 
' skarm ' * being only sufficient for a large animal to stand be- 
tween me and the water. I was provided, with a blanket and 
two or three spare guns. 

" It was one of those magnificent tropical moonlight nights 
when an indescribable soft and enchanting light is shed over 
the slumbering landscape ; the moon was so bright and clear 
that I could discern even a small animal at a considerable dis- 
tance. I had just completed my arrangements, when a noise 
that I can liken only to the passage of a train of artillery broke 
the stillness of the air; it evidently came from the direction of 
one of the numerous stony paths, or rather tracks, leading to 
the water, and I imagined it was caused by some wagons that 
might have crossed the Kalahari. Kaising myself partially 
from my recumbent posture, I fixed my eyes steadily on the 
part of the bush whence the strange sounds proceeded, but for 
some time I was unable to make out the cause. All at once, 
however, the mystery was explained by the appearance of an 
immense elephant, immediately followed by others, amounting 
to eighteen. Their towering forms told me at a glance that 
they were all males. It was a splendid sight to behold so many 
huge creatures approaching with a free, sweeping, unsuspecting, 
and stately step. The somewhat elevated ground whence they 
emerged, and which gradually sloped toward the water, to- 
gether with the misty night air, gave an increased appearance 
of bulk and mightiness to their naturally giant structures. 

" Crouching down as low as possible in the ' skarm,' I waited 



A shallow pit with a barrier of stones in front. 




ANDERSSON ATTACKED BY AN ELEPHANT. 



ANDERSSON'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA, 161 

with a beating heart and ready rifle the approach of the leading 
male, who, unconscious of peril, was making straight for my 
hiding-place. The position of his body, however, was unfavor- 
able for a shot ; and knowing from experience that I had little 
chance of obtaining more than a single good one, I waited for 
an opportunity to fire at his shoulder, which is preferable to any 
other part when shooting at night. But this chance, unfortu- 
nately, was not afforded till his enormous bulk towered above 
my head. ■• The consequence was, that, while in the act of 
raising the muzzle of my rifle over the ' skarm,' my body 
caught his eye, and, before I could place the piece to my shoul- 
der, he swung himself round, and, with trunk elevated and ears 
spread, desperately charged me. It was now too late to think 
of flight, much less of slaying the savage beast. My own life 
was in imminent jeopardy ; and, seeing that if I remained par- 
tially erect, he would inevitably seize me with his proboscis, I 
threw myself on my back with some violence, in which posi- 
tion, and without shouldering the rifle, I fired upward at ran- 
dom toward his chest, uttering at the same time the most 
piercing shouts and cries. The change of position, in all 
human probal^ility, saved my life ; for, at the same instant, the 
trunk of the enraged animal descended precisely on the spot 
where I had been previously crouched, sweeping away the stones 
(many of a large size) that formed the fore part of my ' skarm ' 
like so many pebbles. In another moment his broad fore feet 
passed directly over my face. 

" I now expected nothing short of being crushed to death. 
But imagine my relief when, instead of renewing the charge, 
he swerved to the left, and moved off with considerable rapidity, 
most happily without my having received any other injuries 
than a few bruises, occasii)ned ■ by the falling of the stones. 
Immediately after the elephant had left me I was on my legs, 
and, snatching up a spare rifle lying at hand, I pointed at him 
as he was retreating, and pulled the trigger ; but to my intense 
mortification the piece missed fire. It was a matter of thank- 
fulness to me, however, that a similar mishap had not occurred 
when the animal charged ; for had my gun not then exploded, 
nothing, as I conceive, could have saved me from destruction. 

"While pondering over my late wonderful escape,! observed, 
at a little distance, a huge white rhinoceros protrude his pon- 
derous and misshapen head through the bushes, and presently 
afterward he aj^proached to within a dozen paces of my am- 
buscade. His broadside was then fully exposed to view, and 
notwithstanding I still felt a little nervous from my conflict 
11 



162 AWDBESSON'S EXPLOUATIOyS JiV^ SOUTH AFRICA, 

with tlie elephant, I lost no time in firing. The beast did not 
at once fall to the ground, bnt from appearances I had every 
reason to believe he would not live long. Scarcely had I re- 
loaded when a black rhinoceros of the species Keitloa (a female, 
as it proved) stood drinking at the water ; but her position, as 
with the elephant in the first instance, was unfavorable for a 
good shot. As, however, she was very near me, I thought I 
was pretty sure of breaking her leg and thereby disabling her, 
and in this I succeeded. My fire seemed to madden her : she 
rushed wildly forward on three legs, when I gave her a second 
shot, though apparently with little or no effect. I felt sorry at 
not being able to end her sufferings at once ; but, as I was too 
well acquainted with the habits of the rhinoceros to venture on 
pursuing her under the circumstances, I determined to wait 
patiently for daylight, and then destroy her with the aid of my 
dogs. But it was not to be. 

" As no more elephants or other large game appeared, I 
thought, after a time, it might be as well to go in search of the 
white rhinoceros previously wounded ; I was not long in find- 
ing carcass ; for my ball, as I supposed, had caused his almost 
immediate death. 

" In heading back to my ' skarm,' I accidentally took a turn 
in the direction pursued by the black rhinoceros, and by ill-luck, 
as the event proved, at once encountered her. She was still on 
her legs, but her position, as before, was unfavorable. Hoping, 
however, to make her change it for a better, and thus enable me 
to destroy her at once, I took up a stone, and hurled it at her with 
all my force ; when, snorting horribly, erecting her tail, keeping 
her head close to the ground, and raising clouds of dust by her 
feet, she rushed at me with fearful fury. I had only just time 
to level my rifie, and fire before she was upon me ; and the next 
instant, while instinctively turning round for the purpose of 
retreating, she laid me prostrate. The shock was so violent as 
to send my rifle, powder-flask, and a ball-pouch, as also my cap, 
spinning in the air ; the gun, indeed, as afterward ascertained, 
to a distance of fully ten feet. On the beast charging me, it 
crossed my mind that, unless gored at once by her horn, her 
impetus would be such (after knocking me down, which I took 
for granted would be the case) as to carry her beyond me, and 
I might thus be afforded a chance of escape. So, indeed, it 
happened ; for, having tumbled me over (in doing which her 
head, and the fore part of her body, owing to the violence of 
the charge, was half buried in the sand), and trampled on me 
with great violence, her fore quarter passed over ray body.. 



ANDERSSON'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA: 163 

Struggling for life, I seized my opportunity, and as she was re- 
covering herself for a renewal of the charge, I scrambled out 
from between her hind legs. 

" But the enraged beast had not yet done with me. Scarcely 
had I regained my feet before she struck me down a second 
time, and with her horn ripped up my right thigli (though not 
very deeply) from near the knee to the hip; with her fore feet, 
moreover, she hit me a terrific blow on the left shoulder, near 
the back of the neck. My ribs bent under the enormous 
weight and pressure, and for a moment I must, as I believe, 
have lost consciousness — I have, at least, very indistinct notions 
of what afterward took place. All 1 remember is, that when I 
I'aised my head I heard a furious snorting and plunging among 
the neighboring bushes. I now arose, though with great difii- 
culty, and made my way, in the best manner I was able, toward 
a large tree near at hand for shelter ; but this precaution was 
needless; the beast, for the time at least, showed no inclination 
further to molest me. Either in the melee, or owing to the 
confusion caused by her wounds, she had lost sight of me, or 
she felt satisfied with the revenge she had taken. Be that as 
it may, I escaped with life, though sadly wounded and severely 
bruised, in which disabled state I had great difiiculty in get- 
ting back to my skarm." 

The men sent forward as guides by Lecholetebe belonged to 
a tribe called Betoana, residing on the shores of the Lake. 
They were remarkably fine-looking fellows, stout and well 
built, resembling the Damaras in appearance. The route now 
followed lay through a densely wooded region ; " the wait-a- 
bit " thorns being extremely harassing, tearing clothes, and even 
saddle-bags made of strong ox- hide, into ribbons. Nevertheless, 
about noon on the third day after leaving Abeghan, the cry 
of " [N^gami ! Ngami ! " was raised at the head of the caravan, 
and there, spread out before him, Andersson saw the object of 
his ambition for years — an immense sheet of water bounded 
only by the horizon. A closer examination, however, failed to 
confirm the first striking impression. The Lake was now very 
low, and, at the point first seen, exceedingly shallow. The 
w' ater, which had a very bitter and disagreeable taste, was only 
approachable in a few places, partly on account of the mud, 
and partly because of the thick coating of reeds and rushes that 
lined the shore. Skirting the southern border of Ngami for 
two days, Andersson at length reached the residence of Lechol- 
etebe, situated on the north bank of the Zouga, a short distance 
from the Lake. At the earlier interviews, Lecholetebe spent 



164 ANIfEBSSOI^'S EXPLOBATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

the time chiefly in begging for presents, and pereraptoril} 
declined to furnisli any information whatever about eitliei 
the country or the people ; but when on a favorable occasion 
Andersson explained his desire to push on to Libebe, a place 
lying considerably to the north of the Lake, and asked to be 




HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNTING. 



furnished with men and canoes, he assented at once to the 
proposal. This was so extraordinary, and so contrary to the 
chief's known policy, that Andersson suspected deceit of some 
kind ; and the sequel proved that he was not mistaken. 

The first stage in the journey to Libebe was to ascend the 
river Teoge, which enters the Lake at its north-west extremity. 



A'N'DEBSSON'S EXPLOBATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 165 

For this purpose Andersson was provided by the chief with two 
canoes — clumsy craft, consisting of the trunk of a tree about 20 
feet long pointed at both ends and hollowed out by fire, and not 
always straight. In consequence of the frail structure of their 
craft, the boatmen hugged the shore so closely that it was three 
days after leaving Lecholetebe's capital before they reached 
the mouth of the teoge. They found the river to be about forty- 
yards wide at its entrance into the Lake, and very deep after 
the bar was crossed. For the first few days going up, the 
country presented a dreary and monotonous appearance, being 
frequently submerged for many miles on either hand ; but on 
the fourth day the landscape assumed a more pleasing aspect, 
the banks of the river became higher, and these were' richly 
covered with a profuse and varied vegetation. And there was 
a corresponding exuberance of animal life. Rhinoceroses, 
hippopotami, buffaloes, hartbeests, pallahs, reed-birds, leches, 
koodoos, and sassabys were seen in immense numbers ; while 
liuge crocodiles basked in the sunshine in the more secluded 
parts of the river. At length, after about twelve days' voyag- 
ing, they reached a larger village where the great chief of the 
Bayeiye resided. Here Andersson had been given to under- 
stand that new men and other boats would be provided for the 
farther prosecution of his journey ; but he found the town de- 
serted by the men, who had gone off to hunt hippopotami and 
would not be back, so the women said, in less than a month. 
All attempts to procure guides, or boats, or provisions for the 
journey onward to Libebe were unavailing ; and it was only 
when, mortified and disgusted at Lecholetebe's treachery (for 
he discovered that all this had been pre-arranged by that 
wily chief), he resolved to return to Ngami, that the people 
could be brought to render him the necessary assistance. Ac- 
cordingly, after about a month's absence, Andersson found 
himself once more safe at Batoana-town. The most substantial 
result of this journey was the proof which he acquired that 
Lake Ngami receives its chief supply from the north-west. 
He himself believed that he had also collected evidence from 
the natives sufiicient to prove the existence of another large 
river only two or three days' journey from the Teoge, but flow- 
ing in an opposite direction and probably into the Atlantic. 
This, however, has not been verified as yet. 

The animal life around the Lake, as well as on the Teoge, is 
wonderfully abundant and varied; hippopotami abound on 
the northern side, and otters are not uncommon. Aquatic 
birds are particularly numerous, there being no less than ni^e- 



166 ANDERSSON'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA 

teen species of ducks and geese, ten of herons, and several of 
storks and cranes. The people who dwell on the shores of 
the Lake are called Batoaua; and they are a small tribe of that 
large family of blacks, known as Bechuanas, who, as a whole, 
are probably the most widely distributed and most powerful of 
all the dark-colored natives of South Africa. In manners, 
habits, and customs, as well as in personal appearance, they 
closely resemble the Damaras ; but instead of cattle-breeding 
their principal industry is agriculture and gardening, which 
they carry on in the same manner as the Ovambos. 

When arrested so unexpectedly in his exploring career by 
the artifices of Lecholetebe, Andersson made up his mind to 
return at once to the coast ; but his collection of ivory, speci- 
mens of natural history, curiosities, etc., had by this time so 
increased that he found it impossible to transport them with 
the few pack-and-saddle oxen that remained. A wagon had 
become absolutely necessary, and as the only possible way of 
obtaining one, he set out across the wilderness for Namaqua- 
land. During the four months that elapsed before he again 
reached Lake J^gami, he travelled, either alone or accompanied 
by a single native, sometimes on foot and at others on horse- 
back or ox-back, over more than a thousand miles of country, 
parts of it emulating the Sahara in scarcity of water and gen- 
eral inhospitality. Besides narrow escapes from lions and 
other dangerous beasts, he was occasionally as much as two 
days without tasting food, and it frequently happened that in 
the course of twenty-four hours he could only once or twice 
moisten his parched lips. Ilis perseverance, however, over- 
came all obstacles, and in the spring of 1854: he was once more 
in Cape Town on the way to Europe. 

Before proceeding to tell of Andersson's second expedition, 
it may be well to mention that in 185G, Mr. Green, the famous 
elephant-hunter, succeeded in reaching Libebe on the Teoge 
River, but was not able to stay there long enough to make any 
important observations. 

In 1858, Andersson was once more in South Africa for the 
purpose of pursuing his explorations ; and in the spring of that 
year started from Damara-land with a caravan consisting of 
wagons and riding-oxen, sheep and goats for provisions, a horse 
and four asses for riding, and a pack of dogs for hunting. 
Ilis principal object was to reach the Kunene Riverj and if 
possible to explore its whole course. Leaving Walfisch Bay, lie 
took a northerly course which would have taken him tp the 



ANDEBSSON'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 167 

westward of the Ovambo country. In a short time he reached 
an extensive plain covered with those dense thorny thickets of 
which he had already had experience on his journey to the 
Ovambos; and twenty-three days of almost incredible labor 
were required to cut a way through them for the wagons. 
Few incidents of African travel illustrate more forcibly the 
toil which the explorer must undergo and the patience he 
must exercise, than Andersson's brief account of this passage 
through the acacia thickets. He estimates that for every 900 
feet 01 distance, 170 bushes were cut away, each bush having 
four tough stems, varying in thickness from the size of a 
man's finger to that of his leg. On an average, each bush 
required twelve strokes of the axe, making nearly 10,000 
strokes to the mile ; and 120 miles were thus traversed before 
he reached a forest of lofty trees clear of undergrowth. 

At Otjidambi, a place where there were IIyq springs, An- 
dersson came upon the first signs of human life. The sur- 
rounding country is an extensive table-land, from 2,000 to 
4,000 feet above the level of the sea, bounded on the west by 
a range of granite mountains near the coast, about 500 miles in 
length and running north and south. At right angles with 
this range, a chain of sandstone hills, with now and then an 
isolated granite peak from 1,000 to 3,000 feet high, crosses the 
plain. The surface of the country is for the most part bare 
and stony, or covered with thickets of the thorny mimosa ; 
but the valleys have running streams during the rainy season, 
which during the dry seasons shrink into pools or marshy spots, 
where water may be found by digging. A few Damaras had 
settled with their herds in some of these valleys ; but the year 
before Andersson's visit, their retreat had been discovered by 
the IN^amaquas, who made an incursion into the country and 
carried off many of their cattle. This made them suspicious 
of all strangers coming from the south, and on the approach 
of Andersson's caravan they hid theniselves in the neighboring 
thickets. At length he captured a man and woman, and 
treated them so liberally that the natives came forth, and with 
their aid as guides, he continued his journey for between three 
and four hundred miles further. Had his course been in a 
straight line, this would have taken him beyond the Kunene 
River ; but it was not yet in sight, and, in the entire absence 
of water, he was obliged to turn about and retrace his steps as 
speedily as possible to the nearest mission-station. 

Here he devoted himself to elephant-hunting, in order to 
procure ivory to replenish his exhausted stores. While thus 



168 AXTDMRSSOI^'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA, 

engaged he encountered a large caravan of Damaras, on their 
way to Ovambo-land ostensibly for the purpose of trading ; 
but he noticed among them several subjects of Yonker Afrika- 
ner, the Namaqua robber-chief, and rightly surmised that they 
meant to spy out the land and report on the probable success 
of a plundering expedition. Toward the end of August, An- 
dersson set out for the Lake Omanbonde, which had so griev- 
ously disappointed him and Galton on their first expedition in 
1850 ; but he now found a fine sheet of water four or five 
miles in circumference, with another of equal size near it — 
the shores of both swarming with every variety of game. The 
elephants came in immense herds, and he succeeded in killing 
a great many of the old males, which furnish the largest quan- 
tity of ivory. 

In a short time so much ivory had been secured, that he sent 
one of his men back to the mission with a wagon-load ; he, 
meantime, making an excursion to Tunobis. When he had 
returned to the lake, he again encountered the Damara caravan 
on their return from Ovambo-land, which they had been pre- 
vented from entering. From them Andersson procured one of 
the chiefs as a guide, and on the 5th of January, 1859, started 
once more in search of the Ovambo River, supposed to be a 
branch of the Kunene. Eleven daj^s of hard travel brought 
them to something like a river-bed, stretching away to the 
northward, but destitute of running water, using this as a 
road, they still pushed onward, hoping still to reach the 
Ovambo, little suspecting that they were actually travelling in 
its bed. After a time its direction changed, and leaving it 
they again struck northward ; but the terrible thorny jungles 
soon drove them to another dry water-course extending to the 
west. Following this, they soon found themselves on the dry, 
waste table-land they liad traversed on the previous expedition. 
Here they were fortunate enough to fall in with a Bushman 
chief, named Kaganda, who offered to guide them provided a 
whole elephant were given him as pay. He proved to be an 
active, intelligent fellow, who not only knew every little pool 
or marshy spot in the whole country, but imparted to them a 
secret which proved of great service ; viz., that a large tree, 
with willow-like leaves, was generally hollow, forming a nat- 
ural cistern in which rain-water was preserved a long time. 
Under his guidance, the caravan pressed on through a region 
swarming with elephants, until they reached a point at which 
a native told them they were only two and a halt" days' journey 
from the river. Andersson therefore left his wagons and 



ANDEBSSON'SEXPLOBATIONS IN SOUTH AFRWA, 169 

heavy baggage, and taking half of his men with him, pushed 
northwards. On the third day a mountain-chain loomed up 
on the horizon, and soon afterwards he found liimself on the 
banks of a large river 000 feet wide. It did not seem to be 
any of the streams of which he had previously heard ; for the 
Kunene unquestionably flowed to the west, whereas this river, 
upon whose banks he stood, called by the natives the OJcavango^ 
flowed distinctly eastward into the heart of the continent. 
Andersson believed it to be a great affluent of the Zambesi ; 
and guessed that the point at which he reached it was some- 
where between lat. 17° and 18° S. and long. 17° and 19° E. 
from Greenwich. 

The tribe living on the river is called Okavangari, but there 
were no settlements on the right bank on which Andersson 
was, and it was only after several hours' negotiation that the 
natives could be induced to bring over their boats. In order 
to make arrangements for further exploration of the river, 
Andersson resolved to visit the chief, Chikongo, who resided 
farther to the south ; and accordingly hired one of the natives 
to transport him thither in his canoe. The native seemed to con- 
sider tiie voyage as designed for his own amusement ; for, instead 
of keeping in the swifter current, he paddled slowly along the 
banks, stopping at every hut to show the astonished people the 
strange-looking white man. Andersson began to look upon 
himself almost as some curious animal ; but his guide's ma- 
noeuvres at least enabled him to observe the natives very thor- 
oughly. He describes the men as strong and well-built, but 
the women were the ugliest he had ever seen in Africa. The 
river itself and the landscapes on either side, were beautiful. 
The river-bottoms were covered with fields of grain, and fruit- 
trees and ranges of wooded mountains enclosed the prospect on 
either hand. Hippopotami and water-fowl were abundant ; 
and crocodiles sunned themselves on the islands which here 
and there rose from the surface of the stream. 

At noon, on the second day of the voyage, Andersson reached 
the residence of Chikongo, from whom he received a hearty 
welcome. He stayed here three days, and learned that the 
Ovambo-land lay to the west, and the tribe of Bavickos to the 
east, whose capital is the town of Libebe, on the Teoge Hiver, 
which he had tried to reach from Lake Ngami. 

He now returned to the wagons, and brought the whole car- 
avan safely to the Okavango River, preparatory to the thorough 
exploration of the river, upon which he had determined. But 
scarcely had the party reached the river-bottom, when Anders- 



170 AI^DEESSOW'S EXPLOJRATION'S llSf SOUTH AFRICA. 

son and five or six others were prostrated with fever ; and after 
waiting an entire month in the vain hope of getting better, he 
was obliged to turn back as the only means of saving his life. 
The return journey was rendered additionally perilous, because 
of the plains of grass being on fire in many places. The Da- 
rn aras bum off the old grass periodically, in order to hasten the 
growth of fresh pastures for their herds ; and several times the 
caravan narrowly escaped destruction. Once, indeed, the dan- 
ger was so near, that only a sudden change of the wind saved 
the whole party from death. At the Ovambo Kiver, Andersson 
met Green, who, hearing that the Ovambos had sent out a 
party to intercept the caravan on its return, had collected a 
small body of men, and come to meet and assist him. 

Andersson now went to Europe and published his work on 
the Okavango River, but subsequently returned to Africa, and 
having married Miss Aitchison, of Cape Town, settled at Otjim- 
bingue, near Ondongo, and devoted himself to agriculture and 
commerce. During the war with the Damaras and Nama- 
quas, which ended in the subjection of the Ovambos, he was 
frequently despoiled, and finally wounded so seriously that he 
liad to be taken to Cape Town. Barely recovered, he set out 
in May, 1866, on an expedition to the Kunene, with a view of 
establishing commercial intercourse with the Portuo^uese settle- 
ments north of that river, and actually came in sight of the 
long-sought stream ; but too feeble to cross it, he had to retrace 
his steps, and died on the horae journey. 




CHAPTER IX. 

lyiAGYAR'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

Between the years 1849 and 1856, Laszlo (Ladislaus) Magyar, 
a native of Theresienstadt, in Hungary, made a series of jour- 
neys in the interior, which nearly complete our knowledge of 
the region lying between the route of Livingstone, from the 
Zambesi to the west coast, and the most northern points reached 
by Andersson. 

The previous career of Magyar had been rather chequered. 
Entering the Austrian navy in 1840, he served during several 
cruises, but left the service in South America, and was em- 
ployed by the Argentine Confederation. The fleet of the lat- 
ter power having been destroyed by that of Uruguay, he went 
to Brazil for a time, and in 1846 went to Africa and became 
commander of the fleet of the negro ruler of old Calabar. In 
1848 his health was seriously impaired by the deadly coast- 
fever, and he determined to go to San Felipe de Benguela, the 
most southern Portuguese port in the west coast, in order to 
settle himself in the healthier inland regions. 

Benguela has a climate peculiarly fatal to Europeans, and 
Magyar only remained there long enough to make arrange- 
ments for the journey he had resolved upon to the native king- 
dom of Bihe, situated on the elevated table-lands of the interior. 
This inland region is inhabited by a number of negro tribes 
who are almost constantly at war with each other, and yet ap- 
pear, from their language and habits, to be of the same stock. 
They are all called collectively the Kimbunda. Their country 
is threaded by the affluents of the Coanza River, which rises ir. 
lat. 13° S. and flows northward over a table-land 6,000 feet 
above the sea-level, to about lat. 9°, where it turns westward 
and empties into the Atlantic near St. Paul- de Loanda. 
The land rises from the coast in successive terraces, each of 
which has its distinct climate and productions. 

A large caravan was just ready to start for Bihe, and the 
leader was very glad to accept Magyar's application to join 
him, the presence of a European being considered an addi- 
tional protection. Magyar accordingly engaged an interpreter, 



172 MAGYAR'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTE AFRICA. 

three slaves for personal servants, six hammock-bearers, and a 
Icissongo, or body-guard — a man whose special duty it was to 
watch over his property, and defend him in case of danger, 
lie also provided himself with proper goods for trade with the 
natives. 

On the 15th of January, 1849, everything being in readiness, 
the caravan left Bengiiela and started for the nearest range of 
mountains. The belt of lowlands along the coast is sandy, arid, 
and intensely hot. The tribe nearest Benguela is called the 
Mundombe ; they are a strong and fine-looking race, but repul- 
sive in their habits. Instead of bathing, they rub their bodies 
every third day with fat or butter, and soak their single cotton 
garment in the same, so that it clings in greasy folds to their 
bodies. They live in huts but two or three feet high, built of 
sticks and mud, and always filled with smoke from the fires 
which they keep up even in summer. They raise cattle, and 
also cultivate maize, manioc, and beans. 

The method of transpoi-t by caravan is of the most primi- 
tive description. Goods of all kinds are slung to poles, which 
are carried on the shoulders of the porters. Travellers are 
obliged to lie in a hammock which is also suspended from a 
long pole carried on the shoulders of two men ; but the prog- 
ress of the caravan, especially in marshy districts, forests, or 
passes of the mountains, is excessively slow and difficult, and 
just where the road is worst the traveller is compelled to walk. 

In the lowland regioii, first traversed, there were no signs of 
vegetable life, except here and there some leafless thorn-bushes 
and tufts of dried grass ; but as the elevation above the sea in- 
creased, trees began to appear, and the banks of the Katumbele 
Kiver beyond the first range of hills, were covered with a dense 
tropical forest. This stream was crossed by means of bamboo 
rafts ; and a short distance beyond they reached the first or coast 
range of mountains — a series of black, volcanic peaks, destitute 
of vegetation except occasional thickets of thorns and aloes. 
The route of the caravan lay along the perilous verge of pre- 
'cipitous abysses, where the loose stones and pebbles frequently 
:give way under the feet of the porters, who were obliged to 
march in single file. The bleached bones of men at the bot- 
toms of the chasms gave ghastly evidence of the dangers of the 
road. Nor were these the only dangers to which the travellers 
were exposed. Now and then, among the towering cliffs above 
them, they saw the forms of the wild, predatory tribes of the 
hills, apparently mustering their forces and deliberating 
whether an attack might be ventured. Magyar describes him- 



MAOTAB'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFBIGA. 173 

self as so impressed by the grandeur of the scenery on this 
coast range, and so refreshed by the purer atmosphere of the 
mountains, that he began almost immediately to recover his 
health and strength. In the higher regions he discovered two 
cataracts, one of which, called Kahi, is of an unusual character. 
The river here slides down the face of a rock having an angle 
of about eighty degrees, for a distance of about 150 feet, is tlien 
dashed into foam on a transverse edge, and at last falls 150 
feet further into a dark chasm, with a roar which mav be 
heard several miles. He also saw an active volcano — an iso- 
lated cone, rising high above the other mountains, and discharg- 
ing low jets of steam and flame at regular intervals. The na- 
tives believe that the crater is the abode of the spirits of their 
dead, and never dare to approach the mountains. 

As the caravan advanced farther into the interior, the tropi- 
cal rains increased. The evenings were generally cool and 
clear ; but every afternoon the clouds gathered in dense masses, 
terrific thunder-storms swept round the peaks, and rain, mixed 
with hail, poured down in torrents. When the Kissangi-land, 
which is fertile and populous, was reached, temporary huts were 
erected as a protection from the rains every evening ; and these 
were surrounded witli a kind of rude fortification as a defence 
against the natives, w^ho build their villages on heights which 
are almost inaccessible, and are inveterate robbers. 

Here Magyar, at the request of the members, assumed the 
command of the caravan. His principal duty, next to direct- 
ing the daily marches and looking after the goods, was to settle 
the claims of the various chiefs of the villages passed through; 
and this gave him many curious adventures. In one instance 
the leader of a band of the Bailunda tribe, from whom hostili- 
ties were apprehended, contented himself with a moderate pres- 
ent of brandy, powder, and flints ; with the condition, however, 
tliat the w^hite man should bring him the articles in person. He 
sent two women as hostages, and Magyar, though not fully 
trusting the leader's word, felt bound to comply. He found 
tlie camp regularly divided into four quarters, with the com- 
mander's tent in the centre, distinguished by a red flag. The 
commander was a son-in-law of the king, and was atall, sti-ong, 
and rather handsome man. He was surrounded by his guards, 
interpreters, and servants. He flrst addressed his troo])s, the 
musicians accompanying his words with the sound of their in- 
struments ; then, turning to Magyar, he clapped his hands and 
thrice gave the salutation: "Peace be with you!" He de- 
clared tliat his officers had wished to attack the caravan, but he 



m 



174: JiTAGYAB'S EXPLOUATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA, 

liad forbidden it, on account of his friendship for the white 
man. While the troops were drinking the beer furnished for 
the occasion, and indulging in their savage dances, Magj^ar 
slipped away and returned to the caravan. His men were 
atVaid lest the Bailunda should attack them in spite of their 
leader's prohibition ; and as the natives usually make such at- 
tacks in the early morning, the caravan was set in motion shortly 
after nightfall, marched un perceived past the Bailunda camp, 
and by morning was at a safe distance. 

After leaving the Kissangi-land they reached the beautiful 
valley of the Kubale Kiver ; and beyond this again an elevated 
and extensive table-land stretching away to the foot of the 
Lingi-Lingi mountains. Yast herds of antelopes, zebras, and 
buffaloes grazed on the rich pasturage of these plains, and the 
natives laid down their packs and set out on a hunt. Magyar 
accompanied them, but was so alarmed at the sight of the buf- 
faloes that he climbed to the top of a huge ant-hill. When the 
first beast stormed past, his nervous excitement was such that 
he could not pull the trigger ; he threw away his flint and pre- 
tended to have lost it, lest the natives, who had succeeded in 
killing seven of the animals, should detect his lack of coolness 
necessary for a hunter. 

The scenery of the Lingi-Lingi mountains is even more grand 
and various than that of the coast range. Part of the time the 
path led through thick forests, again it wound in zigzags around 
peaks of naked rock, and frequently along the verge of im- 
mense chasms from which the noise of cataracts resounded. At 
the summit, which is about 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, 
commenced another lofty table-land, stretching away eastward 
to the foot of the Djamba mountains. Scaling these, the cara- 
van continued its journey across the high table-land of Sambos, 
which is about 6,000 feet above the sea-level. The plains here- 
abcjuts are dotted with little hills upon which the natives build 
their villages, which are studded with groups of trees resembling 
the sycamore. Towards the end of their journey, they ex- 
[>crienced a hail-storm so severe that the ground was covered 
Vv'ith a crust of ice. Just before reaching the frontiers of Bihe, 
messengers were sent forward to announce their coming, so that 
tlio women could brew maize-beer and even carry it to meet 
t'loin on the last stage of the march. As soon as they had ac- 
t.ially entered the kingdom the large company began to break 
up and scatter towards their different homes; and here Magyar 
had an example of the pride of the natives. Nearly all his ser- 
\ant3 and porters deserted him, because they were ashamed to 



MAGYAR'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 175 

appear before their families in that character ; only the hissongo 
and his relatives remained faithful, for they regarded the white 
man as their guest, and had instructed their families to prepare 
for his reception. Two or three daj^s after crossing the frontier, 
they arrived at their home, and Magyar received a hearty wel- 
come. After the iirst salutations were over, one of the porters 
commenced a recital of everything that had occurred during his 
absence of 116 days, not omitting the smallest incident ! 

Magyar's chief object being to establish his residence inBihe 
as a base for further explorations, his first care was to send a 
messenger with presents to the king, asking his permission to 
build a house. The answer came in ^\q days; the king sent a 
friendly greeting, and gave his permission, ])ut added the re- 
quest that the stranger should pay him a formal visit as soon as 
he had completed his dwelling. Magyar was now at liberty to 
take any piece of land which had not been already claimed and 
occupied by some one else. The country around the home of 
liis kissongo was so attractive that his only difficulty was what 
point to select. He finally made choice of a beautiful little 
valley, with a clear, swift rivulet in its bed. Forests and mead- 
ows alternated in the landscape, and every hill in the distance 
was crowned with a native village. The character of the scen- 
ery was so charming that he declared to his attendants that he 
would fix his residence there. To his great annoyance, the latter 
informed him that a notorious wizard had been executed on the 
s})ot, a year before, and since then the evil spirits had taken pos- 
session of the whole neighborhood. Foreseeing that the natives 
would resist his attempts to settle there, Magyar had recourse 
to one of their exorcising priests, to whom he presented a fat 
hog and several yards of cotton cloth, begging him to drive away 
the hateful spirits. The priest slaughtered a goat, marked sev- 
eral hieroglyphics with its blood on Magyar's arm and breast, 
blew three blasts through the horn of a gazelle, and the evil 
spirits immediately fled from the beautiful valley, leaving it 
free to human habitation. 

In order to assure himself of the proper respect and consid- 
eration, Magyar learned that it was necessary for him to build 
a large dwelling-house, and to employ at least fifty slaves or 
servants. For twenty yards of cotton-cloth apiece, he purchased 
as many of these as he required, and the additional applicants 
were so numerous that he was finally obliged to keep them 
forcibly at a distance. Nor is it more difficult to support such 
a retinue than to obtain them. The cultivation of the soil is car- 
ried on exclusively by the women, while the men build, hunt^ 



176 MAGYAR'S EXPLORATIONS m SOUTH AFRICA. 

and fisli. The married slaves are obliged to help support the 
un married, as well as to furnish food for the master. The lat- 
ter is only expected to clothe his slaves with a single narrow gar- 
ment, and give them a few yards of cloth twice a year. 

In the material and construction of his house, Magyar imi- 
tated the liuts of the people, except that his was square instead 
of circular in form. The walls were of strong palisades, plas- 
tered with clay and whitewashed, so that the residence had a 
semi-civilized aspect. Around this was a palisade. Outside of 
all was a large stockade Inade of posts of iron-work, w^ith loop- 
holes for musketry ; and between this and the inner inclosure 
were the slave-quarters and store-houses. As soon as these 
structures were completed Magyar started on his visit to the 
Idng of Bihe, whose capital lay about two days' journey farther 
into the interior. It is called Kombala, and is built on the 
summit of a high hill, shadowed by immense trees. A narrow 
})ath led up the steep and stony path to the gate of the town ; 
within this was a large grassy square, surrounded with trees, 
beyond which stood the dirty streets and miserable huts crowded 
with a curious multitude or people, who, however, were more 
carefully dressed and more refined in manner than those of the 
villages. 

The king could not receive him on the day of his arrival, 
but a comfortable hut and abundance of provisions were pro- 
vided for his use. Betimes next morning an oflScer of the 
court, came to conduct him to the palace, which he found to 
be an extensive labyrinth of buildings surrounded by a high 
palisade. Human heads, some bleached to the bone, and others 
fresh as if just placed there, hung upon the outer gate. Pass- 
ing through this, Magyar was conducted along many winding 
waj^s to a door in an interior palisade wall, and through this 
he entered the royal court-yard. He had to wait here upwards 
of half an hour before the sound of bells announced the ap- 
proach of the king, who, on entering, took a seat on a sort of 
throne, over which a lion's skin was suspended, while a page 
knelt at his feet, and a servant with a quagga's tail to fan him 
with stood behind him. On either side the warriors and cour- 
tiers, each with his hair twirled into the shape of a helmet, 
arranged themselves in rows — the warriors armed with long 
guns, clubs, and lances. When the king had taken his seat, 
he turned to Magyar, who had also seated himself on a camp- 
stool, and saluted him thrice with the usual formula : " Peace 
be with you ! " the latter answering as he had been instructed : 
" Also with you, princely father I '^ while the courtiers shouted 



MAGYAR'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. I77 

in chorus, " Hail, mighty Lion ! raging Lion I " Then the 
Kissongo who had accompanied Magyar related all the inci- 
dents of the Journey, and explained his master's wish to make 
his home in liihe, and to visit the other tribes of the intei-ior. 
As every word had to be repeated to the king by one of his 
own officers, notwithstanding that it was made in the language 
of the country, this statement lasted half an hour; and during 
this time Magyar had ample opportunity to study the king's 
personal appearance. He was apparently about fifty years of 
age, tall and lean of figure, and with tolerably regular features 
which would have been agreeable but for his keen and crafty 
look. He wore a kind of turban about his head, a wide blue 
robe, and a gayly striped shawl over his shoulders. In his 
hand he held a small dagger, and the claws of a lion, set in 
gold, worn as a talisman, probably, hung on his breast. 

The " raging Lion " listened patiently to the Kissongo's ad- 
dress, and at the end expressed his satisfaction. His answer 
was : " You have honored me, white man, with the confidence 
you have placed in me, in giving up the comforts which you 
enjoyed at home, among your own people, and coming here to 
settle among us. Therefore, be welcome ! I take you under 
my protection, and woe to them who should dare to injure 
your person or 3'our property ! 1 grant to you the right of 
hospitality which has been given by our ancestors, and my 
people must know and respect it." All the principal chiefs 
repeated their former salutation, in token of acceptance, and 
thus Magyar became an honorary citizen of Bihe. 

Much to his surprise, the king returned Magyar's visit on 
the evening of the same day, and privately acquainted him 
with his intention of undertaking an expedition against a 
neigliboring tribe. He insisted that Magyar should accompany 
the expedition ; and as the latter did not think it politic to re- 
fuse, he agreed temporarily, hoping that some means of escape 
from the unwelcome obligation would be found before the 
time for redeeming it should come round. As in the case of 
the haunted valley which he desired for a residence, so in this 
new dilemma also, Magyar procured his release by an adroit 
use of the native superstitions. As the time for the expedition 
drew near, he complained of pains in the body and bad dreams, 
which the wizards declared were caused by evil spirits. He 
then explained to them that his participation in the foray was 
forbidden by the laws of his land, and that this was probably 
a punishment sent upon him for his intended violation of them. 
After a careful examination of his person, the magicians re- 
12 



I 



178 MAGTAM'S EXPLORATIONS IN 80VTH AFRICA. 

tired into the forest to consult. Their final conclusion was 
that an evil spirit had entered into Magyar's body, and would 
certainly kill him if he accompanied the expedition ; but this 
spirit could be exorcised by slaughtering an ox, and sending 
presents to the king. An ox was accordingly killed, certain 
figures were painted with the blood on Magyar's forehead, 
breast, and arms, and a piece of cotton with the same marks 
was for\Yarded to the king, accompanied by a present consist- 
ing of a keg of powder and several bottles of brandy. The 
cure was effectual. The evil spirit departed ; the king absolved 
the stranger from his promise ; and, as a further evidence of 
favor, sent him his daughter, the Princess Osoro, as a wife. 

The Princess was fourteen years old, tall and slender, and 
with as much grace and amiability as could be expected of a 
king's daughter; and as an unmarried man always excites 
suspicion and distrust among the African tribes, and the secur- 
ity of his residence among the people would be assured by 
such an alliance, Magyar determined to acquiesce in the ar- 
rangement. She came to him under the escort of two of her 
brothers, and followed by a numerous retinue of slaves, and 
the wedding waa immediately celebrated according to the 
native usage. Magyar seems never to have regretted his com- 
pliance. It greatly strengthened his position ; and the Prin- 
cess adapted lierself to his habits, managed his household well, 
and became the mother of several children, one of whom was 
one of the prospective heirs to the throne of Bihe. This lat- 
ter circumstance Magyar confesses afforded him much gratifi- 
cation. 

He now settled down to the cultivation of his fields, observ- 
ing meanwhile the character and habits of the people with 
whom he had taken up bis residence. The Kimbundas, as the 
inhabitants of Bihe are called, are decidedly more advanced 
than most of the South African tribes. They have a fi_xed resi- 
dence, a settled form of government which enforces something 
like law, and if not industrious, they know how to avail them- 
selves of the natural advantages of their land. Their domestic 
animals are cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry ; and they add to 
their stock of meat by great half-yearly hunts, when the men 
of the tribes assemble, surround a district of country, and 
slaughter all the game that is caught in their toils. They 
have some skill in fishing, but do not know how to make nets. 
The men also do some very creditable work as blacksmiths ; 
but this seems the only direction in which their mechanical 
capabilities have been exercised. The women, as we have said, 



MAGYAIi'S EXPLORATIONS m SOUTH AFRICA. I79 

perform all tlie work of cultivating the soil ; and this has had 
a curious effect upon their family life. As soon as a young 
man is able to purchase a wife, he marries, in order that he 
may have some one to cultivate his fields , and his ambition of 
course is to have as many wives as possible, since the more he 
has the better is his chance of being supported in idleness and 
luxury. The women, on their part, also favor polygamy, on 
the principle that many hands make light work. The people 
believe that the purity of blood is transmitted through tlie 
woman, not through the man. For this reason when a male 
slave marries a free woman, his children are free. No hus- 
band has any authority whatever over his own children ; this 
belongs to the eldest brother of the mother, who may do what 
he pleases with them — even sell them as slaves. Divorces are 
easy, but the right is exercised more frequently by the women 
than by the men. Both sexes are very fond of the rude music 
of their native instruments, to the sound of which they dance 
nearly every evening. The men spend the day, when not en- 
gaged in some of their special pursuits, in lying full length on 
the ground, smoking and gossiping. 

At length Magyar began to think of carrying out his inten- 
tion of penetrating farther into the interior. During the whole 
period of his residence in Bihe he had heard of a country 
called Moluwa, lying far to the north-east, in a temperate high- 
land region, full of forests in which roamed numerous herds 
of elephants. As ivory is the principal article of commerce 
with the Kimbundus, and as there are no elephants in Bihe, he 
found no difficulty in getting together a large caravan for a 
journey to the Moluwa country, where the commodity was pre- 
sumably plentiful. Not less than 400 persons volunteered to 
accompany him, among them a considerable number of the 
best warriors and elephant-hunters. The king's permission was 
obtained, although he had been informed that the Princess 
Osoro would acompany her husband, and that their absence 
would probably be prolonged. 

Early in May, 1850, the caravan set out, following the old 
native footpaths which led eastward toward the Coanza Kiver. 
The first district cast of Bihe is called Kirabandi, a hilly, 
fertile country, watered by nu)nerou9 affluents of the Coanza, 
and covered during the rainy season with pools and lakes 
which become marshes in the dry months. The Kimbandi are 
not hostile to travellers, but they are thievish and treacherous, 
and Magyar was relieved when their territory was left behind. 
It is bounded on the east by the great forests of the Glow- 



180 maotah's explorations m south afbica, 

ihenda, which forms the dividing belt between the western and 
the central regions of the continent. These forests cover a 
mountain range which stretches north and south tlirough 
several degrees of latitude. At its northern extremity, where 
Livingstone crossed it on his journey fromLinyanti to St. Paul 
do Loanda, their breadth is eight days' journey ; but they are 
so much more extensive farther south that Magyar's caravan 
consumed sixteen days in passing through. On account of the 
streams and morasses which vary the monotony of the dense 
woods, beasts of burden cannot be used, and all goods must 
be transported across on the shoulders of men. wild animals 
are very numerous, including the lion, the elephant, and the 
rhinoceros. But the animal most feared is the buffalo. Mag- 
yar saj^s that during his many journeys he lost only two of his 
men from lions, but a large number from the attacks of buffa- 
loes. If the first shot is not fatal, and the hunter does not 
succeed in instantly reaching a place of safety, he is inevitably 
tossed into the air and then stamped to death by the sharp 
hoofs of the enraged beast. 

In this wilderness were also encountered a peculiar race of 
human beings, called Mu-Kankala^ whom Magyar describes 
as the most miserable creatures he had ever beheld. " They 
are not more than four feet in height, of a rusty yellow color, 
and with features which seem a caricature of the human face. 
Their legs are very thin ; the round, protruding abdomen takes 
up one-third of the body ; the lean neck supports a large head, 
with a perfectly flat face, in which wide mouth and nostrils 
and small twinkling eyes are inserted. Their ears are like 
flaps, and their hair is very short and woolly." They seem to 
be a peaceable people, and unusually honest in their intercourse 
with strangers. They brought ivory, honey, wax, and dried 
meat to the caravan, and exchanged these articles for tobacco 
and glass beads. These poor people are hunted like wild 
beasts by the neighboring tribes, and such as are captured are 
sold* as slaves; some of the latter, whom Magyar bought, 
served him most faithfully, and did not leave him even while 
passing through their own country. 

After crossing the Olowihenda forests, the caravan entered 
upon a mountainous region, inhabited by the Chiboque, who, 
it will be remembered, gave Livingstone so much trouble when 
he passed through a portion of their territory on his way to the 
west coast. Magyar compares the region to Switzerland. The 
mountains are mostly isolated conical peaks, between which lie 
deep and fertile valleys inhabited by a dense population. The 



MAGYAR'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 181 

villages generally contain about a thousand inhabitants ; tliey 
are simply collections of straw huts, clustered together in the 
forests, and each one is called by the name of its chief. Tlic 
people i-aise sorghum, maize, beans, and tobacco, and are mucli 
better meclianics than the Kimbundas. Game abounds in the 
forests. The climate is so cool that in Jul}' — which is mid- 
winter there — Magyar sometimes found that vessels of w^ater 
were covered with a thin coating of ice in the early morning, 
v/hile the ground was more than once white with frost. 

Occupying the eastern portion of the Chiboque country, 
there is an immense marsh which stretches to the Kasai Hiver. 
Here commences the Moluwa kingdom (which seems to be 
identical with Cazembc or Londa,) which Magyar declares to 
be the most powerful in Central Africa. Kabebo, the capital, 
has a population of about 50,000 ; but as every house stands 
within its own separate enclosure, it covers an area of eight or 
ten square miles. It is built on an undulating plain, falling 
awav toward the east. Streams of fresh water flow throuo^h 
the streets, which are laid out at right angles, and shaded with 
rows of large trees. There are several spacious market-places, 
which are alwa3's crowded when a caravan arrives from the 
coast with European goods. The houses are one story high ; 
those of the king and princes are larger and loftier, but none 
of them have two stories. The king (sometimes called the 
Muata-janvo) is treated with more than human reverence. 
His subjects do not dare to approach him except creeping on 
all fours, and casting handfuls of earth upon their heads. His 
power over their lives and property is absolute, and is often 
cruelly exercised ; but none of the people venture to disobey 
his commands except in the remote provinces. 

Magyar was unable to ascertain the exact boundaries of the 
kingdom, but conjectured that it reached to lat. 40 N. — a 
length of nearly 1,200 miles with a breadth from east to west 
of about 400. The population is spai'se, however, and does 
not amount in the aggregate probably to more than a million. 
In the districts to the north-east the villages are large and 
near together, but there are other parts of tne country where 
the traveller finds no settlement in a day's journey. The 
villages arc generally built in the forests, but each is sur- 
rounded with its belt of cultivated land. Towards the east the 
forests disappear, and the country sinks into vast grassy plains, 
which sometimes become lakes in the rainy season. 

Magyar resided more than a year among the Moluwa people, 
and he regards them as surpassing in in-tellectual capacity all 



182 MAGYARS EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFBIGA. 

tlie other native African races. They have a tolerably well 
organized social system, based upon certain traditions of their 
race, and are usually friendly and polite in their intercourse 
with strangers. On the other hand, the grossest forms of 
superstition obtain among them, and still, on certain occasions, 
they offer up human sacrifices. Their land is for the most part 
fertile, and they raise immense quantities of fruit, including 
pine-apples and bananas. Their chief article of commerce is 
ivory ; and in the northern and eastern parts of the kingdom 




SNAKE HUNT IN THE DILOIiO SWAMPS. 

there are immense forests full of herds of elephants, whose 
tusks often weigh 120 pounds each. The price of these is 
kept up by the competition of the Portuguese from the western 
and the Arab merchants from the eastern coast. Strings of 
cowries and white beads are used as money ; also coils of 
copper wire which the natives melt from malachite. They 
have iron, too, of excellent quality, from which they forge 
swords and lances. 

In the year 1851, Magyar collected his caravan and set out 
on his return to Bihe, taking a more southern route which led 



MAGYAR'S EXPLORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 183 

him through the district called Lobal, and across the upper end 
of the Zambesi valley, although he was not aware of the fact. 
Indeed he actually passed over a small portion of the route 
afterwards traversed by Livingstone, skirting Lake Dilolo, 
and, like the latter traveller, leading his caravan through the 
marshes which surround it. In these marshes there are great 
snakes which are often found in companies of a dozen or more, 
coiled together in the grass. His followers did not show the 
least fear of the reptiles, but attacked them eagerly, and 
afterwards roasted and ate them fresh as a great delicacy. 

The year after his return from the Moluwa kingdom, Mag- 
yar made a journey to the country of the Kilengues, l^^ing 
farther to the south ; and in 1853 he claims to have reached 
the KuncTie River, which was sought for so pei-sistently by 
Andersson and Green, and to have explored a considerable por- 
tion of its course. On Ins return from this southern journey, 
his caravan was attacked in the forests of Lusseke, but after a 
long light the enemy were driven off with considerable loss. 
In 1855 he crossed the OloAvihenda forests a second time, and 
reached the country of Lobal ; but how far his explorations ex- 
tended we have no means of knowing. On his return he was 
again attacked by a large body of the natives, and only succeeded 
in repulsing them after a hard fight which lasted several hours. 
In 1856, he made a visit to Benguela, and the next year was 
appointed governor of one of the Portuguese inland posts. 

It is greatly to be regretted that Magyar was unable to de- 
termine the latitude and longitude of the various points which 
he reached, and that his geographical notes are so brief and 
confusing. His travels fill much of the space between the 
regions explored by Livingstone and Lake Tanganyika ; and 
if he had only been as careful in recording the results of his 
explorations as he was energetic in planning, and courageous 
in carrying them out, some of the most important of remaiii- 
ing geographical problems would probably have been solved. 




CHAPTER X. 

DU CHAILLXrS EXPLORATIONS IN EQUATORIAL AFRICA. 

Du Chaili^u's explorations carry us once more to the west 
coast of Africa, to a region lying between latitude 2° N., and 
2° S., and extending about 300 miles inland from the seaboard, 
and never before traversed by a white man. A brief sketch of 
Du Ghaillu's life has already been given in the chapter on 
" Recent Explorations." At the period of this journey, he was 
a citizen of the United States, though a Frenchman by birth. 
He sailed from New Tork in October, 1855, and reached the 
settlements at the mouth of the Gaboon River, in December of 
the same year. Du Chaillu had already spent several years 
on this coast, where his father formerly had a factory, and 
this had not only inured his constitution in some degree to the 
severities of the climate, but had also given him a Knowledge 
of the languages, habits, and peculiarities of the coast natives 
which proved very serviceable to him in his explorations in the 
interior. 

The Gaboon River, which takes its rise among the Sierra del 
Crystal mountains, empties its sluggish waters into the Atlantic, 
a few miles north of the equator. Its mouth forms a bay 
which is the finest liarbor on the west coast ; and here, on the 
right bank, the French formed a settlement and built a fort in 
the year 1842. Under the protection of the settlement thus 
begun, several missions have been established in the adjacent 
district ; and at one of these called Baraka, the head station of 
the American Board of Fore^n Missions, situated eight miles 
from the mouth of the river, Du Chaillu remained until April, 
1856, in order more perfectly to acclimate himself, and to pre- 
pare for his journey inland. He also took occasion at this time 
to study closely the habits and customs of the Mpongwes, or 
coast tribes, of whom he gives an interesting account. 

The Mpongwe are a branch of one of the great families of 
the negro race, which has moved gradually from the head 
waters of the Nazareth down to the seashore, extending its 
limits meanwhile to the north and south, till now they are 
found from the Gaboon River on the north, to Cape St. Cathe- 



DU CHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 1§5 

rine on the south. A portion liave taken possession of the sea- 
shore, while others are located inland. They have probably 
taken the place of other tribes who have disappeared in the 
mysterious way in which even the Mpongwe are nov/ lessening. 
Tiie Mpongwe inhabit mostly the right bank of the Gaboon 
for about thirty miles up. They live in villages which are gen- 
erally located with special reference to the trading facilities 
afforded by the position, for these negroes are inveterate traders 
— in fact the most intelligent and acute merchants on the coast. 
Under the rules of African commerce, their possession of the 
coast gives them great advantages in point of trade over their 
inland neighbors. The rivers, which are the only higliways of 
the country, are, of course, the avenues by which every species 
of export and import must be conveyed from and to the in- 
terior tribes. Now the river banks are possessed by different 
tribes. Thus while the Mpongwe hold the mouth of the 
Gaboon, and some miles above it, they are succeeded by the 
Shekiani, and these again by other tribes, to the number of 
abont a dozen before the Sierra del Crystal Mountains are 
reached. Each of these tribes assumes to itself the privilege 
of acting as go-between, or middle-man, to those next to it, and 
charges a heavy percentage for this service ; and no infraction of 
this rule is permitted under penalty of war. Thus a piece of ivory 
or ebony may belong originally to a negro in the far interior, but 
if he wants to barter it for " white man's trade," he dares not. 
take it to market himself. If he should be rash enough to at- 
tempt such an enterprise, his goods would be confiscated, and 
he himself, if cauglit, fined by those whose monopoly he sought 
to break down, or most likely sold into slavery. As a matter 
of course, the coast tribes who are in direct contract with the 
white man, and do all the actual trading, reap the lion's share 
of the profit. 

The Mpongwe villages, though seldom large, are the neatest 
and best arranged in Africa. They have generally but one 
street, on both sides of which the houses are built ; sometimes 
there are a few short cross-streets. In a considerable village, 
the main street is often twenty yards wide and two hundred 
yards long. The houses vary in size, according to the wealth of 
the owner ; they are built of a kind of bamboo, which is ob- 
tained from a species of palm, very plentiful hereabouts, whose 
leaves also furnish mats for the roofs. The houses are always 
of quadrangular shape, and from twenty to one hundred feet in 
length or breadth. Tiie principal room is in the centre. The 
floor is of clay, which is pounded Lard, and hy lon^ use becomes 



186 ^^ CHAILLU'8 EXPL0IUTI0N8. 

a firm and clean flooring. The walls are built bj first driving 
stakes into the ground, and to these stakes neatly tying the split 
bamboos. One set is tied outside, and another inside, and the 
crevices are made close by the leaves of the palm-tree. Thus 
the walls are smooth and glossy, and perfectly clean. Both 
houses and street are very neatly kept. 

Du Chaillu describes the Mpongwe as the best-looking peo- 
ple he saw on his travels j they are of medium size, with pleas- 
ant negro features, but handsomer than the Congo tribes. The 
men wear a shirt generally of French, English, or American 
calico, on whicli is wrapped a square cloth which falls to the 
ankles. To this is added a straw hat for the head ; only the 
king is allowed to wear the silJa hat, which is a badge of his 
oflfice. The wealthier men and chiefs are fond of dress, and 
when they can afford it^ delight to show themselves in a showy 
military costume, sword and all. The chief, and in most cases 
the only, garment of the women is a square cloth, which is 
wrapped about the body, and covers them from above the hips 
to just below the knees. On their bare legs and arms they de- 
light to wear great numbers of brass rings, often carrying from 
twenty-five to thirty pounds of brass on each ankle in this way. 
This ridiculous vanity greatly obstructs their motions, and 
makes their walk a clumsy waddle. Both sexes are extremely 
fond of ornaments and perfumery, with the latter of which they 
plentifully besprinkle themselves, without regard to kind. 

The vegetable food of the Mpongwe, and of most of the 
other tribes of this region, consists of Indian corn, the plan- 
tain, yams, sweet potatoes, cassava (manioc), tania, pumpkins, 
and ground or pea nuts. These are cultivated by the women, 
who perform all the agricultural and most of the other labor. 
The Mpongwe eat the meat of almost every animal found in 
forest or river — deer, antelopes, wild boar, etc. Contact with 
the whites has taught them not to eat animals of other orders, 
such as chimpanzee, monkeys, crocodiles, rats, etc. ; but such 
food is still eaten by their slaves. 

During his stay at the mission, Du Chaillu had an opportu- 
nity of witnessing the Mpongwe method of choosing a king, 
which is perhaps unique. When a king dies, the selection of 
his successor devolves upon the old men of the village, who 
consult together in secret. The man elected on this occasion 
was NJogoni, an old acquaintance of Du Chaillu's. " The choice 
fell on him, in part because he came of good family, but chiefly 
because he was a favorite of the people, and could get the most 
votesv I do not know that Njogoni had the slightest suspicion 



DU CRAILLWS EXPLORATIONS. 187 

of his elevation. At any rate lie shammed ignorance very well. 
As he was walking on the shore on the morning of the seventh 
day, he was suddenly set upon by the entire populace, who pro- 
ceeded to a ceremony which is preliminary to the crowning, 
and which must deter any but the most ambitious men from 
aspiring to the crown. They surrounded him in a dense 
crowd, and then began to heap upon him every manner of 
abuse that the worst of mobs could imagine. Some spit in his 
face ; some beat him with their fists ; some kicked him ; others 
threw disgusting objects at him ; while those unlucky ones who 
stood on the outside, and could reach the poor fellow only with 
their voices, assiduously cursed him, liis father, his mother, his 
sisters and brothers, and all his ancestors to the remotest gener- 
ation. A stranger would not have given a cent for the life of 
him who was presently to be crowned. Amid all the noise and 
struggle, I caught the words which explained all to me ; for 
every few minutes some fellow, administering an especially 
severe blow or kick, would shout out, ^ You are not our king 
yet; for a little while we will do what we please with you. 
By and by we shall have to do your will.' 

" Njogoni bore himself like a man and a prospective king. 
He kept his temper, and took all the abuse with a smiling face. 
When it had lasted about half an hour, they took him to the 
house of the old king. Here he was seated, and became again 
for a little while the victim of his people's curses. Then all be- 
came silent ; and the elders of the people rose and said, solemnly 
(the people repeating after them), ' Now we choose you for our 
king ; we engage to listen to you and to obey you.' A silence 
followed, and presently the silk hat, which is the emblem of 
Mpougwe royalty, was brought in and placed on Njogoni's 
head. He was then dressed in a red gown, and received the 
greatest marks of respect from all who had just now abused 
him. Now followed a six days' festival, during which the poor 
king, who had taken with the ofiice also the name of his prede- 
cessor, was obliged to receive his subjects in his own house, and 
was not allowed to stir out. Six days of indescribable gorging 
of food and bad rum ; of beastly drunkenness and uproarious 
festivity. Numbers of strangers came in from surrounding 
villages to pay their respects ; and all brought more rum, more 
palm wine, and more food. Everything that tended toward fes- 
tivity was given away, and all who came were welcome 

Finally, the rum was drunk up, the allotted days were expired, 
and quiet once more began to reign. Now, for the first time, his 
new majesty was permitted to walk out and view his dominions." 



188 -OCT CHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS, 

Du Chaillu's first journey to the interior began towards the 
latter part of April, 1856, and the first stage was a march down 
Uie coast of about sixty miles to the town of Sangatanga on 
Cape Lopez. Cape Lopez lies in lat 0° 36' 10'' S., and long. 
8° 40' E. from Greenwich, and is a long sandy point pro- 
jecting into the sea, on which it gains somewhat every year. 
The Nazareth with several smaller rivers empty into the sea 
here, and there is a bay about fourteen miles deep. The 
region known generally as the Cape Lopez country includes 
all the shores of the bay, and the interior for thirty or forty 
miles. Back from the seashore the land becomes higher and 
hilly, the mangroves give place to forests of palm and more 
useful woods, and fine praries dot the country quite thickly. 
The whole of this district is given to the slave-trade. It pro- 
duces small quantities of ivory, ebony, wax, etc. ; but the slave- 
factory is the chief commercial establishment, and the buying, 
selling, and transporting of slaves for the baracoons at the Cape 
is the most profitable business. 

The tribe in possession here is the Oroungou, related appar- 
ently to the Mpongwe ; and on the day after his arrival, Du 
Chaillu called on King Bango, their chief. He was received 
in state by the king, who had on a flaming yellow coaX with 
gilt embroidery all over it, and a veritable crown like those 
worn by actors on the stage, which had been given him proba- 
bly by some trader. Bango's wives number 300, and he told 
the traveller that he had not less than 600 children — an esti- 
mate which was confirmed by subsequent observation. On the 
night after the reception the king gave a ball in Du Chaillu's 
honor. " The room where I had been first received," says Du 
Chaillu, " was the ball-room. AVhen I arrived, shortly after 
dark, I found about one hundred and fifty of the king's wives 
assembled, many of whom were accounted the best dancers in 
the country. Shortly afterward singing began, and then a 
barrel of rum was rolled in and tapped. A good glassful was 
given to each of the women, and then the singing recom- 
menced. In this the women only took part, and the airs were 
doleful and discordant. The words I could not always catch ; 
but here is a specimen : 

*' ' When we are alive and well, 

Let us be merry, sing, dance, and laugh ; 
For after life conies death ; 
Then the body rots, the worms eat it, 
And all is done forever. ' 

When everybody was greatly excited with these songs, the 



DU CHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. ISO 

king, wlio sat in a corner on a sofa, -with some of his favorite 
wives next liim, gave the signal for the dance to begin. Im- 
mcdiatel}^ all rose np and beat a kind of tune or refrain to 
accompany the noise of the tam-tams, or drums. Then six 
women stepped out and began to dance in the middle of the 
floor. The dance is not to be described. Any one who has 
seen a Spanish fandango, and can imagine its lascivious move- 
ments tenfold exaggerated, will have some faint conceptions 
of the postures of these black women. To attain the greatest 
possible indecency of attitude seemed to be the ambition of 
all six. These were relieved by anotlier set of six in course of 
time, and so the ball went on for about two hours, when, what 
with occasional potations of rum and the excitement of the 
dance and noise, the whole assemblage got so uproarious that 
1 had thoughts of retreating ; but the king would not suffer it. 
He and all the people seemed to enjoy it all exceedingly. 

*' Isext women came out, one at a time, and danced their 
best (or worst) before a closely critical audience, who, w^atching 
every motion with jealous eyes, were sure to applaud by audi- 
ble murmurs of pleasure at every more than usually lewd j9a5. 
At last this ceased, and two really pretty young girls came out 
hand in, hand and danced before me. I was told that they 
were daughters of the king, and he desired that I should take 
them for my wives — an offer which I respectfully but firmly 
declined." 

It was Du Chaillu's desire to penetrate into the hitherto 
unexplored interior on this latitude as far as the Kazareth 
Hiver, which he was told lay about 100 miles to the east. 
The king readily consented to tliis, and assigned him twenty- 
five men to carry his luggage and help him in hunting. They 
set out on the 23d of May, and, after marching for three days 
over a beautiful country of rolling prairie and gentle hills, 
reached Ngola, the chief town of the Shekiani tribe, about 
60 miles due east of Sangatanga. Du Chaillu was the first 
white man ever seen by these people, and the women and chil- 
dren ran screaming into the houses as soon as they caught 
sight of him. But he was cordially received by Njambai, the 
chief, who gave liim a house and invited him to stay and hunt. 
Here he remained several days, hunting in the woods, and 
penetrated on one occasion about twenty miles east of Ngola. 
Ilis efforts were rewarded by the discovery of a new species of 
guinea-fowl (Numida jplumifera), a new pheasant {Phasidua 
7iiger), and a new species of buffalo {Bos hrachickeros) peculiar 
to Equatorial Africa. lie also killed a great number of tlie 



190 BU CUAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 

birds and other animals already known. On the 30th of May 
lie set out on his return to Sangatanga, hunting constantly by 
the way ; and, after a week or two more at Cape Lopez, re- 
turned with his specimens to tlie Gaboon. 

The geographical results of this journey were unimportant ; 
and the only contribution made to our knowledge of the 
African tribes is the account of the Shekiani, a people who 
occupy a portion of the sea-shore and interior as far as 80 
miles from the sea- — from the banks of the Muni and Moondah 
down to the Ogowai. Through this great extent of country 
they are scattered in villages, having nowhere any central 

Eoint of union, and living for the most part in the neighbor- 
ood of Mpongwe and Bakalai people. 

In person the Shekianis are of ordinary size, generally light- 
colored for negroes, and not so fine-looking as the Mpongwe, 
They are warlike, treacherous, much given to trading, and are 
real cheats. They are ardent hunters, and have sufficient cour- 
age and great skill in wood-craft, being very lithe and active, 
light of foot, and cunning in their manoeuvres to approach 
their prey. They are quarrelsome, and have constant " pala- 
vers " either with their own villages or those of other tribes. 
They have but little clan feeling, and the intercourse between 
neighboring villages of Shekiaini is not always friendly, and 
scarcely ever intimate. The men have little or no taste for 
agriculture; they leave the culture of the ground to their 
women and slaves. The sea-shore Shekianis own many slaves, 
but those of the interior but few. 

In their warfare, cunning lias a most important part. They 
laugh at the courage of the white man who faces his enemy, 
and delight most in ambushes and sudden surprises. If one 
lias a quarrel with another he lies in wait for him, shoots him 
;as he is passing by the way, and immediately retreats. Then, 
of course, the dead man's friends take up his quarrel ; then en- 
sue other ambushes and murders ; frequently a dozen villages 
;are involved in palaver, and the killing and robbing goes on for 
months and even years, each party acting as occasion offers. 
This breeds a feeling of insecurity which is destructive to all 
^settled habits. Often, to escape assassination, a whole village 
moves away and builds anew at some distance ; and perhaps 
then the enemy reaches them, or new complications arise, afford- 
ing cause for new murders. 

Polygamy of course prevails among them, and takes rank as a 
political institution. A man finds it to his interest to marry into 
as many influential families in his own and other tribes as he 



DU CHAILLTPS EXPLORATIONS. 19i 

can, as this extends his trade connections, and his influence and 
anthorit}^ But, on the other hand, it is the cause of nearly 
all the palavers and wars they have. The men are continually 
intriguino; with strange women, and when caught are murdered, 
or get their town in trouble. Female chastity is little valued ; 
and one great cause of the gradual decrease of this and other 
tribes is found in the fact that they force their females to marry 
at such an age that they never become mothers. Children are 
promised in marriage at the age of three or four years, or even 
at birth ; and girls are actually wives at eight and nine, and 
sometimes earlier. They have children at eleven or twelve, but 
of course the women age early, and the majority die young and 
childless. 

Though chastit}^ is not valued for itself, adultery is a serious 
offence among townsmen. It is punished by fines, graduated 
according to the means of the offender ; and many men are 
sold annually into slavery where the fine cannot be levied in 
any other way. Sometimes the guilty man compromises by 
working for a certain time for tlie injured husband, and some- 
times blood alone heals the difiiculty. The man has generally 
a head or chief wife — mostly the woman he married first ; and 
to have criminal intercourse with this woman ranks as a most 
heinous crime, for which the offender is at least sold into sla- 
very. When the husband forms new marriage connections, and, 
as often happens, his new bride is but a child, she is then put 
under the care and guardianship of the head wife, who brings 
her up to the proper age. They marry also with their slave 
women ; but the children of these women, though free, have 
less influence and regard among the people than the childi'en 
of free women. Frequently the women desert their husbands 
for abuse or other causes, and run off to other villages ; and as 
it is a point of honor to return no fugitives of this kind, here 
is another fertile source of palaver and war. 

The women are treated very harshly. The men take care 
to put all the hardest work on their wives, who raise the crops, 
gather firewood, bear all kinds of burdens ; and, where the 
bar- wood trade is carried on, as it is now by many Shekiani 
villages, the men only cut down the trees and split them into 
billets, which the women are then forced to bear on their backs 
through the forests and jungle down to the river-banks, as they 
have but rude paths, and beasts of burden are unknown in all 
this part of Africa. This is the most severe toil imaginable, 
as the loads have to be carried often six or seven miles or 
more. 



192 I>U CHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 

Tke Sliekiani tribe is divided into clans, and though these 
families grow very large sometimes, marriage between members 
of the same clan is prohibited. Children add much to a man's 
consequence, especially boys; and a fruitful woman enjoys, 
for this reason, great favor. In cases where, as frequently 
happens, the head of the family is old and decrepit, the mother 
of many children has no questions asked her. They know 
nothing scarcely of the care of children, and lose a great pro- 
portion through mistaken treatment in infancy. Though they 
have villages, they may almost be called a nomadic people. 
They are continually moving about the country, shifting their 
quarters for such causes as a palaver with a neighboring town, 
the death of the chief, or a belief that their present village is 
bewitched. Then they gather up all their household goods, 
and, collecting what provisions they can, move off in a body, 
sometimes many weary miles away. 

Their superstitions are of the most degrading and barbarous. 
The belief in witchcraft is general, and causes much misery ; 
while of idols, evil and good spirits, greegrees, fetiches, and 
charms, there seems no end. 

Du Chaillu made but a short stay at the Gaboon, and on the 
27th of July, 1856, set out for Corisco Bay with the intention 
of exploring the Muni to its head- waters, and of crossing, if 
possible, the Sierra del Crystal in order to see "what kind of 
country and ivhat manner of people were to be found there." 
lie desired particularly to visit the cannibal tribes in the Sierra, 
and to ascertain if the Congo, which had been supposed to flow 
northward back of these mountains, was really to be found 
there. As a preliminary to this it was necessary to get the 
consent and assistance of Dayoko, an influential chief in the 
Muni, who holds the right of passage on the river. His village 
lay twelve miles up the river, and was reached from Corisco in 
one of the large native canoes. The principal difficulty was to 
convince the wary old chief that the stranger did not want to 
trade in the interior and thus interfere with his monopoly ; but 
when it was made clear to him that there was no danger in this 
respect, he agreed to take Du Chaillu under his protection, and 
to furnish him with an escort up the Ntambounay River to 
Mbene, a subordinate chief whose village is situated at the foot 
of the first granite range of the Sierra del Crystal. 

Mbene's village was reached on the 19th of August after a 
journey of three days, part of it on foot and over a very rough 
country covered with thorny thickets, and the " white man " 
was hospitably welcomed. He soon found, however, that there 




WATERFALL OP THE NTA20UNAY. 



J)U CEAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. I93 

was a great scarcity of food in the vicinity, and this hastened 
forward his preparations foi* tlie journey over the mountains to 
the Fan country. Two of Mbene's sons, twelve men who were 
hunters, and half a dozen stout women as porters, were provided 
for the trip, and Mbene did everything he could to assist his 
guest in getting off; but it was not till August 24th that the 
party started, and even then they were very insufficiently pro- 
vided with food. That day they scaled the first range of 
granite hills and traversed an elevated table-land, the tempera- 
ture of which was found quite cold at night. Next morning 
as they were climbing the second range of hills they came up- 
on the Istarabounay Falls, which Du Chaillu describes as one 
of the o-randest sidits he ever beheld. " It was not a water- 
fall, but an immense mountain torrent, dashing down hill at 
an angle of twenty-five or thirty degrees, for not less than a 
mile right before us, like a vast seething, billowy sea. The 
river-course was full of the huge granite boulders which lie 
about here as though the Titans had been playing at skittles in 
this country ; and against these the angry waters dashed as 
though they would carry all before them, and, breaking u]), 
threw the milky spray up to the very tops of the trees which 
grew along the edge. Where we stood at the foot of the rap- 
ids the stream took a winding turn up the mountains ; but we 
had the whole mile of foaming rapids before us, seemingly 
pouring its mass of waters down on our heads." 

Just above the Falls Du Chaillu shot an immense serpent, 
and was disgusted to see his men cut off its head, divide the 
body into proper pieces, and roast and eat them on the spot. 
A short distance beyond, they came upon footprints which the 
natives at once recognized as those of the gorilla. Thdy were 
so fresh that it was resolved to give chase, much to the terror 
of the women ; but the gorillas were more expert in wood-craft 
than their pursuers, and after being once sighted escaped into 
the depths of the forest. Du Chaillu sa^-s : " I protest 1 felt 
almost like a murderer when I saw the goriUas this first time. 
As they ran — on their hind legs — they looked fearfully like 
hairy men ; their heads down, their bodies inclined forward, 
their whole appearance like men running for their lives. Take 
with this their awful cry, which, fierce and animal as it is, has 
yet something human in its discordance, and you will cease to 
wonder that the natives have the wildest superstitions about 
these ' wild men of the woods.' " One of these suj^erstitions, 
which prevails wherever the gorilla is found, is that there is a 
kind of gorilla which is the residence of certain spirits of de- 
13 



194 DU CHAILLV'S EXPLORATIONS. 

parted negroes. These, the natives believe,- can never be 
caught or killed ; and also they have much more shrewdness 
and sense than the common animal, uniting, in fact, the intel- 
ligence of man with the strength and ferocity of the beast. 

After three or four days more of steady marching, during 
w^liich they were nearly famished owing to the scarcity of 
game — Du Chaillu being compelled to follow the native exam- 
ple and eat roast monkey — the travellers reached the first vil- 
lao:es of the Fan, at a distance of about 150 miles in a straight 
line from the coast. Their arrival caused a tremendous com- 
motion, and men, women, and children fled in dismay the mo- 
ment they caught a glimpse of tlie white " spirit." It was only 
when they learned that the Mbondemo (Mbene's people), who 
were negroes like themselves, had lived for days in the com- 
pany of the " spirit " with impunity that they could be induced 
to lay aside their fears ; and then tliey came in crowds. 

" If I was not frightened," says Du Chaillu, " I was at least 
as much surprised by all I saw as the Fan could be. These 
fellow^s, who now for the first time saw a white man with 
straight hair, were to me an equal surprise, for they are real, 
unmistakable cannibals. And they were, by long odds, the 
most remarkable people I had thus far seen in Africa. They 
were much lighter in shade than any of the coast tribes, strong, 
tall, w^ell made, and evidently active ; and they seemed to me 
to have a more intelligent look than is usual to the African un- 
acquainted with white men." 

The men were almost naked. They had no cloth about the 
middle, but nsed instead the soft inside bark of a tree, over 
which, in front, was suspended the skin of some wild-cat or 
tiger. They had their teeth filed, which gives the face a 
ghastly and ferocious look, and some had the teeth blackened 
besides. Their hair, or " wool," was drawn out into long thin 
plaits ; on the end of each stiff plait were strung some white 
beads, or copper or iron rings. Some wore feather caps, but 
others wore long queues made of their own wool and a kind of 
tow, dyed black and mixed with it, and giving the wearer a 
most grotesque appearance. Over their shoulders was sus- 
pended the huge country knife, and in their hands were spears 
.and the great shield of elephant hide, and about the necks and 
bodies of all were hung a variety of fetiches and greegrees, 
which rattled as they w^alked. The Fan shield is made of the 
liide of an old elephant, and only of that part which lies across 
•;the back. This, when dried and smoked, is hard and impene- 
trable as iron. The shield is about three feet long by two and 



DU CEAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 195 

a half wide. Their fetiches consisted of fingers and tails of 
monkeys; of human hair, skin, teetli, bones; of clay, old nails, 
copper chains, shells ; feathers, claws, and skulls of birds ; 
pieces of iron, copper, or wood ; seeds of plants; ashes of vari- 
ous substances. From the great variety and plenty of these 
objects on their persons, it was evident that the Fan are a very 
superstitious people. 

The women, who were even less dressed than the men, were 
much smaller than they, and hideously ugly. These, too, had 
their teeth filed, and most had their bodies painted red, by 
means of a dye obtained from the bar-wood. They carried 
their babies on their backs in a sling or i-est made of some kind 
of tree-bark and fastened to the neck of the mother. 

Such were the strange people who now crowded around the 
"spirit," as they persisted in calling him, examining every part 
of his person and dress that he would allow to be touched, but 
especially wondering at his hair and feet. The former they 
could not sufticiently admire. On his feet he had boots, and 
as his trousers lay over these, the}^ thought, naturally enough, 
that these boots were his veritable feet, and wondered greatly 
that the face should be of one color and the feet of another. 

Next day Du Chaillu's men went out with their old trade 
muskets on a gorilla hunt; and though they were unsuccessful, 
they saw such clear indications of the presence of gorillas, that 
he determined to go out with them himself the day afterwards. 
They beat the bush all day, coming upon fresh gorilla tracks, 
but night came upon them before they had brought their quarry 
to bay ; they resolved, therefore, to camp in the forest and re- 
new tlie hunt next day. Next morning they started betimes, 
and after travelling several hours without seeing any signs of a 
gorilla, were beginning to be discouraged when suddenly one 
of the hunters gave a clucJc with his tongue, — the native way 
of indicating that something is stirring and that a sharp look- 
out is necessary. 

" Presently," says Dr. Chaillu, " I noticed, ahead of us seem- 
ingly, a noise as of some one breaking down branches or twigs 
of trees. This was the gorilla, I knew at once, by the eager 
and satisfied looks of the men. They looked once more care- 
fully at their guns, to see if by any chance the powder had 
fallen out of the pans ; I also examined mine, to make sure 
that all was right ; and then w^e marched on cautiously. 

" The singular noise of the breaking of tree-branches contin- 
ued. AVe walked with the greatest care, making no noise at 
all. The countenances of the men showed that they thought 



196 I>V CHAILLU'S EXPLOBATI0N8. 

tliemselves engaged in a very serious undertaking ; but we 
pusbed on, until finally we tbougbt we saw througb tbe tbick 
woods tbe moving of tbe brandies and small trees wbicb tbe 
great beast was tearing down, probably to get from tliem tbe 
berries and fruits be lives on. 

" Suddenly, as we were yet creeping along, in a silence wliicb 
made a beavy breatb seem loud and distinct, tbe woods were 
at once filled witb tbe tremendous barking roar of tlie gorilla. 
Tben tbe underbrusb swayed rapidly just abead, and pres- 
ently before us stood an immense male gorilla. He bad gone 
tbrougb tbe jungle on bis all-fours ; but wben be saw our party 
be erected bimself and looked us boldly in tbe face. He stood 
about a dozen yards from us, and was a sigbt I tbink never to 
forget. Nearly six feet bigb (lie proved two incbes sborter), 
witb immense bod}^, buge cbest, and great muscular arms, witb 
fiej'celj^-glaring large deep-gray eyes, and a bellisb expression 
of face, wbicb seemed to me like some nigbtmare vision : tbus 
stood before us tbis king of tbe African forests. 

" He was not af I'aid of us. He stood tbere, and beat bis 
breast witb bis buge fists till' it resounded like an immense 
bass-drum, wbicb is tlieir mode of offering defiance; mean- 
time giving vent to roar after roar. 

" Tbe roar of tbe gorilla is tbe most singular and awful noise 
beard in tbese African woods. It begins witb a sbarp hark, 
like an angry dog, tben glides into a deep bass roll, wbicb liter- 
ally and closely resembles tbe roll of distant tbunder along tbe 
sky, for wbicb I bave sometimes been tempted to take it wbere 
I did not see tbe animal. So deep is it tbat it seems to proceed 
less from tbe moutb and tbroat tban from tbe deep cbest and 
vast pauncb. 

" His eyes began to flasb fiercer fire as we stood motionless 
on tbe defensive, and tbe crest of sbort bair wbicb stands on 
bis forebead began to twitcb rapidly up and down, wbile bis 
powerful fangs were sbown as be again sent fortb a tbunder- 
ous roar. And now truly be reminded me of notbing but 
some bellisb dream creature — a being of tbat bideous order, 
balf man balf beast, wbicb we find pictured by old artists in 
some representations of tbe infernal regions. He advanced a 
few steps — tben stopped to utter tbat bideous roar again — ad- 
vanced again, and finally stopped wben at a distance of about 
six yards from us. And bere, as be began anotber of bis roars 
and beating bis breast in rage, we fired, and killed bim. 

''Witb a groan wbicb bad sometbirig terribly buman in it, 
and yet was full of brutisbness, it fell forward on its face. 



DU CEAILLWS EXPLORATIONS. 



197 



The body sliook convulsively for a few minutes, the limbs 
moved about in a struggling way, and then fill was quiet — 
death had done its work, and I had leisure to examine the huge 
body. It proved to be live feet ten inches hi^h, and the 
muscular development of the arms and breast eliowed what 
immense strength it had possessed." 

The men proceeded 
at once to cut up the 
carcass, and apportion 
out the meat — for they 
actually eat this crea- 
ture. They also care- 
fully preserved the 
brains for charms : 
prepared in one way 
the charm gives the 
wearer a strong hand 
for the hunt, and in 
another it gives him 
success with women. 

A few days after- 
wards, Du Chaillu was 
invited to the princi- 
pal village to meet the . 
king, Mbene having 
overcome the latter's 
reluctance to meet the 
" spirit " face to face. 
It was near by, and as 
he entered the village, 



he thought he saw some 



bloody remains which 

looked human, though 

he could not bring 

liimseif to believe that 

it was so. Presently, 

however, he passed a 

woman who dissipated 

all doubt. She bore 

with her a piece of the thigh of a human body, just as we should 

go to market and carry thence a roast or steak. On arriving at 

the palaver-house, he found the king surrounded by immense 

numbers of his peoj)le. This personage was named Ndiayai ; 

and he was a ferocious-looking fellow, whose body, naked with 




Kma NDIAYAI. 



1^8 ^C €EAILLU'8 EXPLORATIONS. 

the exception of the usual cloth around the middle, made of 
the bark of a tree, was painted red, and whose chest, stomach, 
and back, were tattooed in a rude but very effective manner, 
lie was covered with charms, and was fully armed. All the 
Fans present wore queues, but that of the king was the largest 
of all, and terminated in two tails, in which were strung brass 
rings, while tlie top was ornamented with white beads. Brass 
anklets jingled as he walked. The front of his middle-cloth 
was a line piece of tiger-skin. His beard was plaited in several 
plaits which also contained white beads, and stuck out stiiSy 
from the body. His teeth were filed to a point and colored 
black, giving him a peculiarly liorrible look. Notwithstanding 
the bravery of his appearance, however, he was evidently 
frightened at sight of his strange guest. 

The queen, who accompanied her lord, was very old and hid- 
eously ugly. She was nearly naked, her only article of dress 
being a strip of the Fan cloth, dyed red, and about four inches 
w^ide. Her entire body was tattooed in the most fanciful man- 
ner; and her skin, from long exposure, bad become rough and 
knotty. She wore two enormous iron anklets — iron being a 
very precious metal with the Fan — and had in her ears a pair 
of copper ear-rings, two inches in diameter, and very heavy. 
These had so weighed down the lobes of her ears, that the little 
finger could easily have been put into the holes through which 
the rings were run. 

At the close of the interview, Du Chaillu was conducted to 
the house which had been assigned him. The houses of the 
Fan are small, being only eight or ten feet long, -Qng or six 
wide, and four or ^vq high, with slanting roofs. They are 
made of bark, and the roofs of a kind of matting made of the 
leaves of a palm-tree. The doors run up to the eaves, about 
four feet high, and there are no windows. In these houses the 
people cook, eat, sleep, and keep their store of provisions, chief 
of which is the smoked game and smoked human fiesh, hung 
up to the rafters. All the Fan villages are strongly fenced or 
palisaded ; and by night a careful watch is kept. They have 
also a little native dog, whose sharp bark is the signal of some 
one approaching from without. The villages are kept neat and 
clean, the streets being swept, and all garbage — except indeed 
the well-picked bones of their human subjects — ^is thrown 
out. 

Du Chaillu was now on excellent terms with the natives, and 
went out hunting with them nearly every day. On September 
4th, he had an opportunity of seeing how they conduct one 



DU CEAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 199 

of their great periodical elepliant hunts. The forests here- 
abouts are fall of rough, stony climbing plants, which i-un up 
to the tops of the tallest trees. "When the Fan find that the 
elephan-^ are frequenting any particular locality, tliey pro- 
ceed thither in great numbers (there were 500 engaged in this 
hunt) but very cautiously, twist the vines together, and very 
ingenioush-, but with much laboi-, construct a kind of liucre 
fence or obstruction, not sufficient to hold the elephant but 
quite^ strong enough to check him in his flight, and entano-le 
him in the meshes till the hunters can have time to kill hfm 
Once caught, they quietly surround the huge beast, and put 
an end to his struggles by incessant discharges of their spears 
and guns. Sometimes, the poor beast lookslike a gio-antic por- 
cupine, so numerous are the spears launched ao-aiifst him be- 
fore he IS killed. Four elephants were killed in this way, on 
this hunt, and one man lost his life,— a not uncommon occur- 
rence, as the elephants often charge right into the midst of 
their assailants, and the greatest agUity and presence of mind 
are necessary to elude them. 

The rest of his stay in Ndiayai's country presents no f'^atures 
ot special interest, so we will merely summarize here tht results 
of his observations among the Fan. 

The Fans are in color dark brown rather than black but 
have, as before said, curly or woolly hair. They are licrJite'r in 
color than tlie Bakalai, Shekiani, and other surroundin" tribes 
ihey tattoo themselves more than any of the otlie? tribes 
north of the equator, but not so much as some to the south 
ihe men are less disfigured in this way than the women, who 
take great pride in having their breasts and abdomen entirely 
covered with the blue lines and curves. Their cheeks also are 
tully marked in various figures, and this, with the immense 
copper and iron rings wliicli weigh down the lobes of their 
ears, gives them a Jiideous appearance. The men are very ex- 
pert blacksmitlis, and though their tools are rude they produce 
work ±ar superior to any known in this part of Africa Their 
weapons indicate tlieir skill in this line. Many of their war- 
riors are armed with a truly terrible battle-axe, one blow of 
wJiich quite suffices to split a human skull. Then there is a 
very singular pointed axe, which is thrown from a distance, as 
American Indians are said to have used the tomahawk. The 
war-knife, Adnch han-s by the side, is a terrible weapon for a 
hand-to-hand conflict; and there is another huge knife, over a 
toot long by about eiglit inches wide, whicli is used to cut dowii 
through the shoulders of an adversary. The spears are six or 



200 DTJ CRA1LLW8 EXPLOBATIOWS. 

seven feet in length, and are thrown with astonishing accuracy 
to the distance of thirty yards. Some of the axes, knives, and 
other iron-work are ornamented with scroll-work, and wrought 
in graceful lines and cui'ves, which show a correct eye and con- 
siderable artistic taste. Crossbows are also used in war and on 
the hunts. The larger arrows have an iron head, something 
like the sharp barbs of a harpoon ; these are used for hunting 
wild beasts, and are about two feet long. But the most deadly 
weapon of all is the little insignificant-looking stick of bamboo, 
not more than twelve inches long, and simply sharpened at one 
end. This is the famed poison-arrow — a missile which bears 
death wherever it touches, if only it pricks a pin's-point of 
blood. The poison is made of the juices of a plant indigenous 
to the forests hereabouts. They dip the sharp ends of the ar- 
rows several times in the sap, and let it get thoroughly dried 
into the wood ; it gives the point a red color. The arrows are 
kept very carefully in a little bag made of the skin of some 
wild animal. They are much dreaded by the tribes with whom 
the Fan are sometimes at war, as they can be projected with 
such force as to take effect at a distance of fifteen yards, and 
with such velocity that they cannot be evaded. There is no 
cure for a wound from one of these harmless-looking sticks — 
death follows in a very short time. 

The Fan have also some skill in pottery, and make vessels of 
clay which are surprisingly regular in shape, seeing that they 
know nothing of the lathe. Their agricultural operations are 
very riide ; they merely cut down the trees and brush to make 
a clearing, burn everything that is cut down, and then dig holes 
and stick in their roots and shrubs. Their staple food is the 
manioc, the leaves of which they also boil and eat as " greens." 
Besides manioc they cultivate plantains, yams, sugar-cane of an 
excellent qualitj^, and squashes, the seeds of which they pre- 
pare in a peculiar way. 

The Fan have one custom which perhaps accounts for their 
superiority to the surrounding tribes. They never marry their 
girls before they have arrived at the age of puberty ; and they 
have a care for the chastity of their young women. The Fan 
marriage ceremonies are very rude, but are a time of great jol 
lity. Uf course the husband has to buy his wife, and the 
shrewd father makes a bargain with him as well as he can, put- 
ting on a great price if the man's love is very ardent ; some- 
times the price is so high that it takes years before a man can 
buy and marry the lady of his love. 

When a wedding is in j)i'Ospect the friends of the happy 



LU CEAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 201 

couple S])end maii}^ days in obtaining and laying in great stores 
of provisions — chiefly smoked elephant-meat and palm-wine. 
They engage hunters to keep up the suppl^^, and accumulate 
enough to feed the great numbers who are expected to come. 
When all is ready the whole town assembles, and, without any 
ceremony, but merely as a public sale, as it were, the father 
hands his daughter to her husband, who has generally already 
paid her price. The " happy pair " are, of course, dressed 
linely for the occasion. The bridegroom is attired in a feather 
head-dress of glowing colors ; his body is oiled ; his teeth are 
black and polished like ebony ; his huge knife hangs at his side ; 
and if he can kill a leopard or panther, or other rare animal, its 
skin is wrapped about his middle in a graceful way. The bride 
is very simply dressed, or rather she is (like all the Fan 
women) not dressed at all ; but for this occasion she is orna- 
mented with as many bracelets as she can get, of brass or cop- 
per, and wears her woolly locks full of wdiite beads. When all 
are assembled, and the bride is handed over to her lord, a gen- 
ei'al jollification ensues, which lasts sometimes for many days. 
They eat elephant-meat, get tipsy on palm-wine, dance, si!ig, 
and seem to enjoy themselves very much, until at last wine 
grows scarce, and the crowd returns to an unwilling sobriety. 

Polygamy is a fertile source of quarrels and bloodshed among 
them ; and the growing desire for " white man's goods," to pay 
for which, in the present miserable condition of trade, they can- 
not get sufticient ivor^', induces them to send many of their 
criminals to the coast to be sold as slaves. They themselves 
have but few slaves. 

The Fans are a very superstitious people. The chief village 
of each family has a huge idol, to whose temple all that family 
gather at certain periods to worship. This worship consists of 
rude dances and singing. The idol-houses are usuall}^ sur- 
rounded with skulls of wild animals, prominent among which is 
the skull of the gorilla. To take away or disturb these skulls 
would be accounted sacrilege, and worthy of death. They 
have a great reverence for charms and fetiches, and even the 
little children are covered with talismans, duly consecrated by 
the doctor, or greegree man of the tribe. Witchcraft is a com- 
mon thing to be accused of among them, and the death penalty 
is sternly executed. They set little value on life, and as the 
dead body has a commercial value, this consideration too, 
probably, has its weight in passing sentence of death. 

And this brings us to the most revolting of all the customs 
of the Fans. They are not only cannibals, but practise a form 



202 I>TJ CHAILLU'8 EXPL0BATI0K8. 

of cannibalism unheard of among the other cannibal tribes oi 
Africa — eating those, namely, who have died of sickness. 
They will not eat members of their own family, but they con- 
stantly buy the dead bodies oi tlie neighboring tribes, and of 
other families in their own tribes ; who, in return, buy theirs. 
They readily give ivory, at the rate of a small tusk for a body 
— even when the latter has evident^ died of some loathsome 
disease. They are regular ghouls, in fact, and have been 
known to steal a freshly-buried body from the cemetery when 
on a visit to the sea-coast. 

" l^otwithstanding their repulsive habit," says Du Chaillu, 
" the Fans have left the impression upon me of being the most 
promising people in all Western Africa. They treated me 
with unvarying hospitality and kindness ; and they seem to 
have more of that kind of stamina which enables a rude people 
to receive a strange civilization than any other tribe I know of 
in Africa. Energetic, fierce, warlike, decidedly possessing both 
courage and ingenuitj^, they are disagreeable enemies ; and I 
think it most probable that the great family or nation of which 
they are but a small offshoot, and who should inhabit the moun- 
tainous range which subsequent explorations convince me ex- 
tends nearly if not quite across the continent — that these 
mountaineers have stayed in its course the great sweep of Ma- 
hometan conquest in this part of Africa." 

It was Du Chaillu's great desire to push on still farther to 
the eastward, and visit other interior tribes ; but this was ren- 
dered impossible by the state of war between the tribes on the 
border, and after a visit of a few days to the neighboring and 
friendly Oshebas, he bade adieu to his Fan friends on Sept. 
18th, and returned by easy stages to Corisco JBay. From this 
TDoint he made a short and unimportant trip up the Moondah 
Kiver, and early in November found himself once more in the 
enjoyment of rest at the Gaboon. 

After a somewhat protracted stay with his friends at the 
mission, Du Chaillu again left the Gaboon, February 5th, 1857, 
intending this time to explore the district known as the " Cam- 
ma Country." The Camma country begins to the south of 
Cape Lopez, in lat. 0° 40' S., and extends southward as far as 
the River Camma, in lat. 1° 50' S., and to the east for about 
fifty miles from the coast. It is a well- watered region ; the 
Mexias, and some minor branches of the great Ogowai Hiver, 
running into the sea in its northern bounds, while the Fernand 
Yaz, the Camma, and the Selti have their mouths farther 
south at various points on the Camma coast. The coast-line is 



DU CUAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 203 

generally low and swampy ; a heavy surf makes landing diffi- 
cult, except at a few points protected by the shape of the land, 
and the shore, viewed from the sea, has so monotonous an as- 
pect that seamen find it difficult to recognize their whereabouts, 
even after considerable experience of the coast. For this rea- 
son, the trade along this part of the coast is not very brisk ; 
vessels touch but seldom ; and Du Chaillu had to purchase a 
small cutter at the Gaboon to take him to his destination on 
the Fernand Yaz. 

The place selected for his hea3-quarters was Biagano, the 
residence of King Kanpano, who was a friend of one of Du 
Chaillu's Gaboon allies, and who proved a trustworthy and 
helpful friend to him in his later explorations. Ranpano's 
people were so delighted to see a white man with " trade " 
that Du Chaillu could scarcely prevent their hugging him on 
his arrival ; and as he intended to use this point as a base of 
operations for a considerable time he selected a spot near the 
village, and had a number of huts and storehouses built upon 
it, which looked so well when they were finished, that he 
called the settlement Washington. The entire town was built 
for less than a hundred dollars. The houses were finished 
early in April, and as soon as his goods had been removed to 
them, Du Chaillu made a brief excursion up the Fernand Yaz 
— which here runs nearly parallel with the coast — to a town 
called Aniambia, where hunting was said to be good. lie re- 
turned to Biagano on the 24:th of April, and on May 4th, his 
men caught a young gorilla — an event which he describes as 
" one of the greatest pleasui-es of his whole life." He was a 
little fellow, between two and three years old, and only two 
feet six inches in height, but he proved as fierce and stubborn 
as a grown animal could have been. He was so ferocious that 
even after two weeks of confinement, it was dangerous to a|> 
proach his cage. Once he esca]:>ed by tearing away the bam- 
boo sides of his hut, and it took four men to carry him back, 
even after a net had been thrown over his head. A little chain 
was now put round his neck ; but ten days after he was thus 
chained he died suddenly, — to Du Chaillu's great disappoint- 
ment. " To the last he continued utterly untamable ; and, 
after his chains were on, added the vice of treachery to his 
others. He would come sometimes quite readily to eat out of 
my hand, but while 1 stood by him would suddenly — looking 
me all the time in the face, to keep my attention — put out his 
foot and grasp at my leg. Several times he tore my pantaloons 
in this manner, quick retreat on my part saving my person ; 



204 



DU CHAILLU'8 EXPLOBATIONS. 



till at last I was obliged to be very careful in my approaches. 
The negroes eould not come near him at all without setting hira 
in a rage. He knew me very well, and trusted me, but evi- 
dently always cherished a feeling of revenge even toward me." 
The hope of taming the gorilla had detained Du Chaillu at 
Biagano for several weeks ; but on the 27th of May he started 
with two canoes and twelve men up the Npoulounay, a branch 
of the Ogowai. At the distance of about sixty miles from 
Biagano, they came to a fork in the river, and taking the right 
branch, soon found themselves ascending a sluggish stream 
which narrowed so rapidly that at last it was not more than 
two yards wide and nearly choked w^ith reeds. Pushing 
slowly up this, they suddenly emerged into the Lake of Anen- 




YOUNG GOEILLA. 



gue, a vast body of water about ten miles wide, and dotted 
with large beautifully wooded islets. Several towns were in 
sight, and steering for one of these Du Chaillu presently found 
himself in the presence of King Damagondai, a hospitable old 
savage who felt very proud of a visit from a white man. 
Du ^Chaillu stayed here from the 1st to the lOtli of June, 
hunting and exploring the lake and its islets, but was compelled 
to return to Biagano by the bursting of both of his guns. 

The accident proved a fortunate one ; for a few days after 
his arrival at Biagano, King Quengueza, sovereign of a large 
tribe of people living about ninety miles up the river Rembo, 
and a man of great influence in tlie interior, came on a visit to 
the coast. He was much astonished at the sight of Du Chaillu, 



DU CEAILLU'S EXPLORATION'S. 205 

but soon became friendlj and invited him to visit his np-river 
country, promising great sport and plenty of gorillas. 

The rainy season is the most favorable time to travel in the 
interior ; and as it was now the middle of the dry season, 
Dn Chailla resolved to postpone his visit to King Quengncza 
for a montli or two. In the meantime he again ascended to 
the Anengne Lake, which he found much lower and smaller, 
reeking with the filth of decaying vegetation, and absolutely 
swarming with crocodiles. These crocodiles are killed by the 
natives every day, and constitute a principal part of their diet. 
While huntinoj in the forest near the Anenorue lake Du Chaillu 
discovered and shot a new and curious ape, the nshiego 
mbouve. It is about the size of the chimpanzee, and is dis- 
tinguished for the peculiar nests, or rather shelters, which it 
builds in high trees. These shelters are made of leafy 
branches which are carried up and tied to the tree with vines 
in such a way as to make a perfect oval-shaped roof which 
will shed rain. They are built a few feet above some con- 
venient limb on which the nshiego mbouve sits and sleeps ; 
and as soon as the leaves get too dry to keep out the rain, the 
nest is abandoned and a new one built. The male and 
female do not occupy the same tree, but have nests not far 
apart. 

Shortly after his return to " Washington," the traveller had 
an opportunity of witnessing the ceremonies with which the 
Carama "break mourning-time" — mourning lasts from one to 
two years. 

" The man who had died left seven wives, a house, a planta- 
tion, and other property. All this the elder brother inherits, 
and on him it devolves to give the grand feast. For this feast 
every canoe that came brought jars of mimbo or palm wine. 
Sholomba Jombuai, the heir, had been out for two weeks fish- 
ing, and now returned with several canoe-loads of dry fish. 
From his plantations quantities of palm wine were brought in. 
Every one in the village furbished up his best clothes and 
ornaments. Drums and kettles were collected ; powder was 
brought out for the salutes ; and at last all was ready for bola 
ivoga. 

" The wives of the deceased seemed quite jolly, for 
to-morrow they were to lay aside their widows' robes, and to 
join in the jollification as brides. The heir could have mari-ied 
them all, but he had generously given up two to a younger 
brother and one to a cousin. 

" At seven o'clock in the morning three guns were fired off 



206 ^^ VHAILLXP8 EXPLORATIONS. 

to announce that the widows had done eating a certain mess, 
mixed of various ingredients supposed to have magical virtues, 
and by which the}^ are released from their widowhood. They 
now pat on bracelets and anklets, and the finest calico they 
had. About nine all the guests sat down on mats spread about 
the house of deceased and along the main street. They were 
divided into little groups, and before eacli was set an immense 
jar of mimbo. All began to talk pleasantly, till suddenly the 
Biagano people fired off a volley of about one hundred guns. 
This was the signal for the drinking to begin. Men, women, 
and children set to; ,and from this time till next morning the 
orgies were continued without interruption. They drank, they 
sung, they fired guns, and loaded them so heavily as they got 
tipsy that I wonder the old trade-guns did not burst; they 
drummed on everything that could possibly give out a noise; 
they shouted ; and the women danced — such dances as are not 
seen elsewhere. They are indecent in their best moments. 
The reader may imagine what they wei^ when every woman 
was furiously tipsy, and thought it a point of honor to be more 
bawdy than her neighbor. 

" Kext day, about sunrise, Jombuai came to ask me to assist 
at the concluding ceremony. His brother's house was to be 
torn down and burned. When I came they fired guns, and 
then, in a moment, hacked the old house to pieces with axes 
and cutlasses. When the ruins were burned the feast was 
done. And this is to go out of mourning among the Cam- 
ma." 

Late in January, 1858, Du Chaillu received another invita- 
tion from King Quengueza to visit Goumbi, coupled with a 
promise to escort him to the far interior ; and on the 26th of 
February set out on his journey up the Fernand Yaz, which is 
known in its upper course as the Rembo. Goumbi, Qneri- 
gueza's town, is ninety-five miles from tlie mouth of the river, 
and was reached without incident on February 29th. Quen- 
gueza welcomed his guest very warmly, holding a state recep- 
tion and introducing him to all his people with the announce- 
ment that this was " the king's white man," and that whoever 
harmed him or his goods should pay for it with his life. 
Goumbi is the last Gamma town on the river, but Quengueza 
has vassels among the Bakalai, who are next above, and in 
fact, much farther into the interior. While preparations were 
being made for the journey up the river, Du Chaillu amused 
himself with hunting. On the 8th a large female gorilla was 
killed, and on tha 11th a young one was captured. It was too 



DU CBAILLWS EXPLORATIONS. 207 

yoving to be taken from the breast, however, and died ten days 
afterward. 

At last on the 22d, Du Chaillu and the king, with a large 
retinue, set out for the village of Obindji, a friendly chief of 
the Bakalai, living about fifty miles up the Hembo. This vil- 
lage was to be their headquarters for a wliilo, and was reached 
late in the afternoon of the second day. \Yhen the party ap- 
proached the shore, firing guns and singing songs, Obindji 
came down in great state, dressed in a silk hat (his crown), a 
coat and shirt, and a nice cloth. He was ringing his hendo^ a 
bell, which is the insignia of kingship here, — something like a 
royal sceptre. Then the two kings, with I)u Chaillu, entered 
the town amid the rejoicings of the people. 

Du Chaillu spent some weeks hunting in the woods about 
Obindji's town, and discovered still another new ape — the 
Kooloo-haraha. The Kooloo-Jcamha is not very much smaller 
than the goj'illa (the specimen killed by Du Chaillu was four 
feet three inches high), but it is much less powerful, and not 
so fierce. It has a very round head, whiskers running quite 
round the face and under the chin, prominent cheek-bones 
and sunken cheeks, and jaws not very prominent — less so than 
in any of the apes. The structure of the head, in fact, more 
nearly approaches man than any other of the large apes. On 
the 20th of April, he killed another large gorilla — one of the 
largest he had yet seen. Its height was five feet six inches ; its 
arms had a spread of seven feet two inches ; and its huge, 
brawny chest measured fifty inches round. 

On the 27th of April, Quengueza and Du Chaillu set out up 
the river, with about twenty slaves and hunters, for the ebony 
country ; the former to cut wood, and the latter to hunt. The 
weather was excessively hot, and Du Chaillu was prostrated 
with an attack of fever which kept him in bed for a week, 
and left him weak and nervous. The party spent a month in 
the woods, and did not return to Obindji's town until May 
28th. Here the people were at starvation-point, and on the 
30th Du Chaillu started with one hundred men up the river 
for a Bakalai town called Njali-Condie, the chief of which 
had promised him some gorilla hunts if he would make him a 
visit. The town was reached next day, but one of the super- 
stitious observances of the people prevented any hunting for 
several days. Du Chaillu took this opportunity of going east- 
ward to see Igoumba, an Ashira chief whom he had seen at 
Goumbi. Finally, on the 7t]i of June, they went out on a 



208 I>^ CHAILLU'S EXPL0BAT10N8, 

gorilla-hunt, the tragic result of which we will relate in Du 
Ohaillu's own words : 

'^ I gave powder to the whole party. Six were to go off m 
one direction for bush-deer, and whatever luck miglit send 
them, and six others, of whom I was one, were to hunt for 
gorillas. We set off toward a dark valley, where Gambo, 
Igoumba's son, said we should find our prey. The gorilla 
chooses the darkest, gloomiest forests for its home, and is found 
on the edges of the clearings only when in search of plantains, 
or sugar-cane, or pine-apple. Often they choose for their 
peculiar haunt a piece of wood so dark that even at midday 
one can scarce see ten yards. This makes it the more neces- 
sary to wait till the monstrous beast approaches near before 
shooting, in order that the first shot may be fatal. It does not 
often let the hunter reload. 

'' Our little party separated, as is the custom, to stalk the 
wood in various directions. Gambo and I kept together. One 
brave fellow went off alone in a direction where he thought he 
could find a gorilla. The other three took another course. 
We had been about an hour separated when Gambo and I 
heard a gun fired but little way from us, and presently an- 
other. We were already on our way to the spot where we 
hoped to see a gorilla slain, when the forest began to resound 
with the most terrific roars. Gambo seized my arms in great 
agitation, and we hurried on, both filled with a dreadful and 
sickening fear. We had not gone far when our worst fears 
were realized. The poor brave fellow who had gone off alone 
was lying on the ground in a pool of his -own blood, and I 
thought at first quite dead. His bowels were protruding 
through the lacerated abdomen. Beside him lay his gun. 
The stock was broken, and the barrel was bent and fiattened. 
It bore plainly the marks of the gorilla's teeth. 

" We picked him up, and I dressed his wounds as well as I 
could with rags torn from my clothes. When I had given 
him a little brandy to drink he came to himself, and was able, 
but with great difficulty, to speak. He said that he had i?iet 
the gorilla suddenly and face to face, and that it had not at- 
teuipted to escape. It was, he said, a huge male, and seemed 
very savage. It was in a very gloomy part of the wood, and 
the darkness, I suppose, made liim miss. He said he took 
good aim, and fired when the beast was only about eight yards 
off. The ball merely wounded it in the side. It at once be- 
gan beating its breasts, and with th-e greatest rage advanced 
upon him. 



DU CEAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 200 

" To run away was impossible. He would have been cauo:Iit 
in tlie jungle before he had gone a dozen steps. 

"He stood his ground, and as quicklj^ as he could reloaded 
his gun. Just as he raised it to lire the gorilla dashed it out 
of his hands, the gun going off in the fall, and then in an 
instant, and with a terrible roar, the animal gave him a tre- 
mendous blow with its immense open paw, frightfully lacera- 
ting the^ abdomen, and with this single blow laying l)are part 
of the intestines. As he sank, bleeding, to the ground, the 
monster seized the gun, and the poor hunter thought he would 
have his brains dashed out with it. But the gorilla seemed to 
have looked upon this also as an enemy, and in his rage flat- 
tened the barrel between his strong jaws. 

'^ When we came upon the ground the gorilla was gone. 
This is their mode when attacked— to strike one or two blows. 
and then leave the victims of their rage on the ground and go 
off into the woods." 

On the 10th they killed a large gorilla, and on the 10th of 
July a second one which proved to be of immense size. On 
the 13th of July, Du Chaillu set out on his return to Obindji's 
town. The dry season, in the midst of which they now were, 
was very unfavorable for travelling; the fever was wasting his 
strength, and his supplies were fast giving out. He resoked, 
therefore, to return to the coast, and recruit his health before 
making a final effort to penetrate beyond the Bakalai to the 
eastward. He reached Biagano on August 13th. and was im- 
mediately prostrated with such an obstinate attack of fever 
that he was obliged to avail himself of the first passing vessel 
and sail for the Gaboon. 

Before resuming the narrative, we will summarize the trav- 
eller's account of the Bakalai, the people among whom he 
spent tlie greater portion of his time during the expedition 
just outlined. They are one of the most numerous and widely 
extended tribes in Equatorial Africa. Their settlements are 
found from the Muni on the north to the Fernand Vaz on the 
south, and from the sea-shore to the country of the ApimW. 
To the north they approach the sea-shore, and live on tSe 
rivers ; but farther south they recede from the coast and are 
met farther inland. Their settlements are widely scattered, 
and they are often found living in independent towns in 
regions chiefly occupied by other tribes. The Bakalai are of 
ordmary size, and the men are generally well made. They 
are not very black, though they have full negro features. 
They are not very strong, chiefly because they' live poorly; 
14 



210 ^^ CHAILLU'S EXPLORATION'S. 

but they have great powers of endurance, and on this account 
make excellent hunters. Considering their numerous super- 
stitions and their poor marksmanship, they are brave fellows on 
the hunt. To face a gorilla, and calmly await his approach 
till you know that if you miss him you will certainly be his 
prey, must be counted an act of no common courage. And 
this is the manner in which the Bakalai hunt this terrible 
breast. 

Wives and slaves are their only property. A man's stand- 
ing is according to the number of his wives. As soon as a 
Bakalai has acquired some " white man's goods " in return for 
ivory or ebony, he immediately sets out to buy a new wife. 
They generally prefer to marry very young girls ; and often 
young children are regularly bargained away. In this case 
they remain with their parents till the age of puberty. The 
duties of a wife are to labor for her husband, to cook for him, 
to work in the iields, and to be generally his beast of burden 
and superior slave. When the Imsband dies, his wives and 
slaves are divided among his relatives; his brothers taking 
preference, but even his sons inheriting sometimes. It is a 
curious fact, that, though they will take their brother's or 
father's wives in marriage, they will not marry a woman of the 
^2im.Q family or clan with themselves. This is the case, also, 
among other tribes. 

Of slaves the Bakalai have not many. The wants of the 
white traders on the coast, and their own need for white men's 
goods, make them sell most of those they get to the tribes 
nearer the coast. People caught in adultery — particularly 
with a "head wife" — are sold into slavery in certain cases. 
Those accused of sorcery are killed or sold into slavery. Also 
a debtor may be sold by his creditor. 

Their costume is very light. Where they can get American 
ov European goods, they so greatly prefer those, that a Bakalai 
will wear a filthy rag of cotton print for months without wash- 
ing, rather tlian throw it aside for a clean native grass-cloth 
wrapper. The women are extravagantly fond of European 
beads, and wear also anklets and bracelets of copper or iron. 
The rude mat which is worn round the middle by the men is 
made of grass, and very ingeniously constructed. But the 
fine grass-cloth, some of which is very beautiful, is not made 
among them. That tliey get from the Ashira, a people farther 
inland, or from other interior tribes. They are, like ail the 
tribes of this region, great traders, and are proficients in the art 
of lying, — the most important qualification of a m<;rchaat 



DU CEAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 211 

liereabouts. Tliey are fond of music of certain kinds. The 
tam-tam, or drum, is used for all dances and ceremonials ; but 
they have also a guitar, and a harp of eight strings — an in- 
geiiions instrument on which some of them play with great 
bkill. Some of their airs are really pretty, though sad and 
monotonous. 

Tiie most peculiar trait of the Bakalai, which distinguishes 
them from other tribes with whom they are intermixed, is their 
roving character. They never stay long in one place. A 
Bakalai village is scarce built — often the plantations have 
not borne fruit the first time — when they feel impelled to 
move. Then everything is abandoned ; they gather up what 
few stores of provisions they may have, and start off, often for 
great distances, to make with infinite pains a new settlement, 
which will be abandoned in turn sometimes after a few months ; 
though sometimes they remain a year or two, and even more, 
in the same place. Thus, on the head-waters of the Gaboon 
and Its tributaries, the favorable position for trade obliges them 
to remain iu the same neighborhood. But even there they shift 
from one place to another, distant only a mile or two from 
each other. 

Many things contribute to this roving tendency, but first of 
all is their great fear of death. They dread to see a dead per- 
son. Their sick, unless they have very good and near friends, 
are often driven out of the village to die in loneliness in the 
forest. When a man dies in Bakalai village the stability of 
that settlement has received a violent shock. If a second dies, 
then the people at once move away. They think the place be- 
witched ; they fancy death, dreaded death, stalking in their 
midst. A doctor is called, who goes through his incantations, 
and some poor wretch is condemned to drink the mboundou. 
Often several friendless creatures are accused and condemned 
in a breath, and murdered in cold blood. Then the village is 
broken up ; the people set out again upon their wanderings, 
and fix upon some lonely spot for new plantations and a new 
home. "It is as though they were all their lives vainly flee- 
ing from the dread face of death. This, indeed, is the refrain 
of all their sad songs, the burden of every fear. Having little 
else to lose, they seem to dread, more than any other people I ever 
saw, the loss of life. And no wonder; for after death is to 
them nothing. ' Death is the end.' ' Now we live ; by and by 
we shall die; then Ave shall be no more.' 'lie is gone ; we 
shall never see him more ; we shall never shake his hand 
again; we shall never hear him laugh again.' This is the 



212 I>V CEAILLU'S EXPL0BAT10N8. 

dolorous burden of their evening and morning song." And 
yet, by a strange contradiction, they are extravagantly super- 
stitious. Believing that there is no life beyond this, they yet 
fancy a ghost or spirit in every moving tree or busli after night, 
and in the twilight hour are sometimes overpowered with an 
undefinable dread, which makes them fear to come even out- 
side their huts. 

Another cause of fear is their treacherous and quarrelsome 
disposition. They are constantly quarrelling with their neigh- 
bors. Many of their quarrels and palavers arise about women. 
Polygamy prevails extensively; female chastity is not valued, 
except as an article of merchandise; the women have great 
freedom and an intriguing spirit, and the consequence is that 
a faithful wife is an unheard of thing. The crime of adultery 
with a head-wilQ^ however, is considered a very serious misde- 
meanor, for which the offender may be heavily fined if he is 
rich, sold into slavery if he is poor, or perhaps killed. Now, 
when a man is caught in such a difficulty, he makes his escape, 
if possible, to the next village. It is considered dishonorable 
to give up a fugutive, and if he gets safely there he is safe for 
the time. Then begins quarrelling, succeeded presently by 
muixler ; then the curious process of securing allies hy killing 
some inhabitant of the milage from which they reqidre assist- 
ance, breeds more murder and retaliation, and so in a few days 
a large tract of country is interested in a quarrel, and fights 
and assassinations continue till some villao;es are almost 
annihilated, and others are removed afar off, only to be mixed 
up with new strifes. 

When war has really broken out in the country once, there 
is no rest nor safety. No man or woman in any village can 
take a step in any direction, day or night, without fear of death. 
They lay ambuscades to sui'prise each other's villages. They 
shoot through the tree-bark of which their houses are made, and 
kill sleeping persons. They use every unfair means of warfare ; 
and the meaner the attack and the greater the treachery, the- 
' more glory they have won. In such times of war fires are put 
out after dark, because they give light to the enemy ; the peo- 
ple keep a dead silence, lest their voices should betray their 
whereabouts; the hunters fear to hunt, the women and slaves 
to plant, and, in consequence, everybody is in a condition of 
semi-starvation. This lasts sometimes for months. At last 
whole districts are depopulated ; those who are not killed desert 
their villages, and all, perishing with hunger, move far away 
from the fatal spot. 



DU CEAILLU'S EXPL0RA.T10NS. 213 

Like all the neighboring tribes they know nothing of reme- 
dies for any form of disease. When a man is sick he is left to 
nature. If he dies it is witchcraft. They cannot believe that 
a man can die in the prime of life from purely natural causes. 

After a month or so at the Gaboon, Da Chailiu found his 
health restored sufficiently to justify another attempt to pene- 
trate the interior. He returned accordingly to Biagano, or 
Washington, and ascended the river to Goumbi, which was 
reached on the 13th of October, 1858. King Quengueza was 
very glad to have him back, and gave him thirty-five men to 
accompany him on the proposed journey to Ashira-land. On 
tly 22d they set out for Obindji's town, which was reached on 
t«D 26th; here the party was joined by two Bakalai and several 
Ashira men, one of whom was to act as guide. Early on the 
2Tth they left Obindji^s town behind them, and after a march 
of two days nearly due east over a mountainous and very 
rugged country, covered with a dense forest, emerged later in 
the afternoon upon the great Ashira prairie-land, dotted plenti- 
fully with villages, wliich looked in the distance like ant-heaps. 
" I stood for a long time," says Du Chailiu, " on the edge of a 
bluff, taking in this, one of the finest landscapes I ever saw in 
my life. Far as the eye could reach was a high rolling prairie. 
As I afterwards discovered, the plain is about 55 miles long by 
10 wide. All over this vast plain were scattered collections of 
little Ashira huts. The hills and valleys were streaked with little 
ribbon-lfke paths, and here and there the eye caught the silver 
sheen of a brook winding along through the elevated land. In 
the far distance loomed up mountains higher than any I had 
yet seen, and whose peaks were lost in the clouds. It was a 
grand sight." 

In order to make a properly impressive entry into Ashira- 
land, Okendjo sent two men ahead to announce that " the 
spirit " was coming to see them, and that he (Okendjo) had 
been selected as his guide. 

" Soon, in the nearest village, we began to see people moving 
about hurriedly, and in about half an hour the whole plain 
knew something had occurred. Meantime those nearest us 
came out to meet us, and we moved forward to them. When 
they saw me, all stopped, and the majority turned back with 
awe and alarm depicted on their faces. We continued to ad- 
vance slowl3^ It was nearly dusk when we entered the near- 
est village. But very few of the people dared to approach 
me ; and even those took to fli<T:ht if I fixed my eye upon them, 
evidently fearing I would do them a mischief. Okendjc 



1>I4 I>V CBAILLV'8 EXPL0BAT20N8, 

walked ahead of me, proclaiming, in a most magniloquent man- 
ner, the many yirtoes of the great white man or spirit whom 
he had brought to see his conntrymen. And the crowd an- 
swered to his words in shouts, ' Tlie tangani has come I Tlio 
spirit has come to see our land — our land, which he never saw 
before ! ' 

" It happened luckily that the chief of the first village we 
came to was a brother of Okendjo. Akoonga met us at tlie 
entrance of his place, and said, ' Is it true, Okendjo, what I 
hear, that you bring to us this man ? Is it not an hallucination 
of my mind, occasioned by too much palm winel Is he the 
white man who makes the guns, the cloth, the beads, the brass 
rods, and the copper rings? ' 

"Okendjo replied, ' He is the man. Tliis is he of whom 
you have heard so much. He comes from a far country to see 
us.' 

'' Then the people shouted out their surprise. A house was 
given me, and when I had taken possession the chief came, fol- 
lowed by ten of his wives, each bearing two bunches of plan- 
tains, which, with fear and trembling, they deposited at my 
feet. Next were brought four goats, twenty fowls, several 
baskets of ground-nuts, and many bunches of sugar-cane. 

"When these were delivered, Akoonga said to Okendjo, 
^Tell the spirit that I thank him that he stays in my village a 
night. Tell him he is welcome, and all those who follow him. 
He is the master while he is here. This- food is for him. As 
for his people, my women will cook for them.' 

" I thanked him. 

" Then, showing me the house, he said, ^ It is your house ; 
my wives are yours ; my slaves are yours ; my people are 
yours.' 

" Then, at last, I had a chance to refresh mj^self with supper. 
After supper, being tired, I lay down^ but was not yet asleep 
when I heard the chief say to his people, ' Be silent ; do not 
trouble the spirit ; donot speak lest you awake him. Our fore- 
fathers nor ourselves ever saw such a wonder as this.' 

" The consequence of this kind and very unusual forethought 
was that I enjoyed a very good night's rest 

" In the morning, Oleuda, the king or head chief of the 
Ashiras, sent two messengers with presents of goats and plan- 
tains, and a desire that I should come to his town. I sent back 
word that I would the day after to-morrow; to-day my feet 
were too sore. The king sent word that I should be carried if I 
would come. I replied that I would come on the day I had 



DU CnAILLU'S EXPLOEATIONS. 215 

appointed. Tliat I never broke my -word nor ever changed my 
mind. 

" Accordingly, on JSTovembcr 2d, early in the morning, I was 
aroused by lung Olenda's people, ^vho had come to escort me 
with singing and dancing. I took leave of Akoonga, giving 
him a present of one hnndred yards of {;loth, and some beads, 
and an old shirt, whereat he was hngely dcliglited. 

" laly men had now easy times. My baggage was cai'i'icd alto- 
gether by the Ashira, who marched ahead singing wild songs 
celebrating my arrival among them. After a journey of ten 
miles over the grassy prairie we came to Olenda's town, whicli 
may be called the capital of the nation. I was conducted to 
the best house in the place ; and, after waiting half an hour, 
the ringing of the kendo announced the approach of the 
king. 

- " At last King Olenda stood before me — a most surprising 
object indeed. lie was an old, old man, with wool as wliite as 
snow, face a mass of wrinkles, and body, thin, lean^ and bent 
almost double with age. lie had painted his haggard old face 
red on one side and white on the other, in streaks, and, ns he 
stood before me, I wondered as much at his appearance as did 
he at mine. 

" When we had looked at each other for some five minutes lie 
made me a formal address in Ashira, which was translated for 
me by Okendjo. lie said-: ' I have no bowels. I am like the 
Ovenga River; I cannot be cut in two. But also I am like 
the Niembai and Ovenga rivers, which unite together. Thus 
my body is united, and nothing can divide it.' 

^' Tliis gibberish, which may possibly have had some mystic 
significance at one time, I afterward discovered was the regular 
and invariable salutation of the Ashira kings, Olenda's prede- 
cessors, time out of mind. Ea(;li chief and important person 
has such a salutation, which they call 7co')nbo. 

" Then he continued : ' You, the spirit, have come to see 
Olenda. You, the spirit, have put your feet where none like 
you have ever been. You are welcome.' 

" Here the old king's son, also a very old negro, with snow- 
white wool, handed over to the king two slaves, which the king 
formally presented to me, together with three goats, twenty 
bunches of ])lantains, twenty fowls, five baskets of ground-nuts, 
and several bunches of sugar-cane. 

" ' This,' said he, 'is to salute you. Whatever else you want, 
tell me. I am the king of this country. Whatever else you 
wish, let it be known to me.' 



^ 



216 -DV UEAILLWS EXPLORATION'S, 

" I replied tliat slaves I did not want, but that if any of his 
people were on the coast, I should be glad to have them taught 
in the knowledge of the white man, that they might come and 
tell it to their people. 

" Then more of the old man's children came, all old, and 
wrinkled, and white-headed men. They stood before me, 
regarding me with wonder and awe ; while the people, of whom 
thousands were gathered from all the villages of the plain, looked 
on in silence and expressed their surprise in whispers. 

"At last the old king turned to his people and said : ' I have 
seen many things in my life, and many wonderful things, and 
now I am ready to die, for I have seen the spirit from whom 
we receive all things. It will always be said in our nation b}^ 
those coming after us, that in the time of Olenda the spirit 
first appeared and dwelt among us. You are welcome ' (turn- 
ing to me). 'Keep this spirit well' (to his people); 'he will, 
do us good.' 

" It was a very impressive scene, and all was conducted with 
great decorum and dignity." 

Du Chaillu remained about "^yq weeks with the Ashiras, 
hunting a large part of the time, and, for the rest, making 
repeated but vain efforts to scale the lofty mountain-range 
which lay to the south-east. In one of these attempts he had a 
narrow escape from death by starvation. He was accompanied 
on all these excursions by some of the Ashiras, whom he declares 
are the finest people in Africa. They are invariably coal- 
black, differing in this respect from their neighbors, the 
Bakalai. The women in particular have fine forms, and though 
they have full negro features, many of the young women are 
positively pleasing in appearance and graceful in carriage. 

The dress of the men and married women consists of a 
flowing garment, made of a kind of, grass-cloth woven by 
themselves, which covers most of the person. But the girls 
and young women, till they are married, are not permitted to 
wear any clothing whatever except a narrow grass-cloth girdle 
about the middle. The men, who are not nearly so fine-looking 
as the women, though they too are superior to the men of the 
surrounding tribes, wear on their heads caps of grass-thread 
knit in a most beautiful manner, something in the stjde of our 
crochet-work. From their shoulders hangs a very pretty bag 
which is used to carry w^hatever they may have, which we 
would put in our pockets. The women paint their bodies red 
with a dye obtained from the bar-wood tree. Both men and 
women are very fond of copper ornaments, such as bracelets 



DU CRAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS, 217 

and anklets, which they manufacture from the copper brought 
hither from the sea-shore. The women are particularly fund 
of wearing copper rods around their necks, which makes them 
look as if ready collared for tlie slave-market. Both sexes 
file their teetli slightly in the middle, and the result is not un- 
pleasing. The women dress their hair in a peculiar way, by 
stringing their wool over plantain leaves or sticks, and building 
it out in the shape of horns befoi'e and behind. The hair is 
ke])t greasy with palm oil. 

The Ashira villa^fes. of which there are from 150 to 200 
scattered over the great plain, are neat and clean. The village 
is generally composed of one long street, with houses on each 
side, and these streets are kept very clean. The houses are 
small, but prett}^, and are built of tree-bark. Back of each 
village are great plantations, carried on with much industry, 
where tobacco, peanuts, plantains, yams, and sugar-cane, are 
grown in quantities which makes this a land of plenty, where 
no man starves. 

The women cultivate the soil among the Ashira, as among 
the other tribes, and they are quite industrious. They do not 
become wives till they have arrived at the age of puberty, 
which is one sufficient reason for the greater beauty of the 
little nation, and for its intellectual superiority, as denoted by 
the cloth manufactures, and by their settled and provident 
njode of life. Pol^^gamy of course, prevails ; and parents some- 
times sell their children, which is not thought a crime. 

Among the Ashiras, singularly enough, Du Chaillu found 
the Cannabis Indica^ or Indian hemp, from whi(;h the far- 
famed Eastern drug hasheesh is made. The leaves are smoked 
by them, with the inevitable result of debility and insanity. 
Insane persons are not an uncommon spectacle in the Ashira 
villages. 

Du Chaillu was now very anxious to push still farther into 
the interior. Olenda was at first strongly opposed to this, fear- 
ing, as usual, that his "trade would be interfered with; " but 
at length he gave his consent, and, what was more important, 
appointed three of his sons to accompany the traveller to the 
land of Apingi, with whom the Ashira keep up a friendl}^ in- 
tercourse. All things being in readiness, and the king having 
formally blessed his sons, the party set out on the morning of 
December 6th, travelling in a direction a little north of east. 
The same day they crossed the Ovigui, a rapid stream about 
thirty yards wide which forms the boundary of Ashira-land. 
The route from this point was over a very rugged country^ 



218 DU GHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 

consisting of almost precipitous hills alternating with plains 
and valleys all covered with dense forests. Game was abun- 
dant, and on the 7th two gorillas were killed, one a large male 
five feet eight inches high. On the morning of the 11th, they 
came at last, through a sudden opening in the forest, upon tlio 
Apingi Hiver (Rembo Apingi), a magnificent river, 350 yards 
wide. On the opposite side were the Apingi villages ; and 
as the natives had had warning of the approach of the travel- 
lers, they were at once ferried across and escorted into the 
nearest town, which happened to be the residence of King Re- 
mand] i. 

JDu Chaillu was soon safely housed in the largest house in 
town ; and presently Remandji came to him followed by all 
the old men of his town and the chiefs from the neighboring 
villages. " He brought me," says Du Chaillu, " two dozen 
fowls, and some bunches of plantains, and baskets of cassava, 
which being laid at my feet, he addressed me, saying: ' I have 
beheld what our forefathers never saw, w^hat I never saw 
before. I bid welcome to thee, oh white man ! oh spirit ! I 
thank your father,' turning to Minsho, ' for sending this spirit 
to me, for nothing greater could happen to us.' Then he said . 
^Be glad, oh spirit! and eat of the things we give thee.' 
"Whereupon, to my astonishment, a slave was handed over to 
me bound, and Remandji said : ' Kill him for your evening 
meal ; he is tender and fat, and you must be hungry.' It took 
me a moment to recover from my astonishment. Then I 
shook my head, spat violentl}^ on the ground, and made Minsho 
tell him that I abhorred the people who ate human fiesh, and 
that I and my people never did so. To which Remandji 
replied : ' We always heard that you white men eat men. Why 
do you buy our people? Why do you come from nobody 
knows where, and carry off our men, and women, and chil- 
dren ? Do you not fatten them in your far country and eat 
them ? Therefoi-e, I gave you this slave, that you might kill 
him, and make glad your heart.' It was a difficult matter to 
explain to the king that he w^as much mistaken, and that we 
do not eat our slaves. The whole matter from his point of 
view, was absurb. ' If we did not eat them, what did we 
want them for 1 ' was his incessant question ; nor could his 
majesty be, by any skill of mine, inducted into the mysteries of 
our labor-system, and its rules of demand and supply." 

The Apingi are, for Africa, a very industrious people. The 
men really do some worh^ a thing unheard of among most of 
the native tribes. They use the fibrous parts of the leaf of a 



1>U CEAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 



219 



palm, whicli grows in great abundance here, to make a fine 
grass-cloth, f(;r wliicli they are noted among all the surround- 
ing trihes, and which son:ietimes finds its Avay even to tlie 
coast. The palms from whose leaves the cloth is made, are 
planted about all their houses, and are vroperty which only the 
owner may use ; and the possession of fixed property of any 
kind, shows tliat the Apingi have made an important step in 
advance of the Bakalai, Mpongwe, and similar tribes. 




WEDDINQ PREPARATIONS AMONG THE APINGL 



Both me^n and women file the teeth to a ]x>int, which gives 
their faces a frightfully savage appearance. In color they 
are yellowish-black, lighter than the Ashira. The women are 
much smaller than the men and hideously ugly ; but they seein 
very fruitful^ and large families are the rule. The men are 
almost fully clothed,. b«t the women go nearly naked, and seem 
to be destitute of all traces of personal modesty — as the fol- 
lowing incident related by Du Chaillu, will show: ** He- 
maudji's head-wife or queen, a rather pretty young woman 



220 J>^ CHAILLU'S EXPL0BATI0N8. 

after the Apingi custom, came with her husband one day to 
see me. I gave her a piece of bright cotton cloth, which de- 
lighted her so much that she immediately began, to my great 
dismay, to disrobe herself, in order to put on my present. But, 
when she had reduced herself to a state of nature, something 
else of my goods attracted her attention, and she began to talk 
and look around her with the most complete unconcern for 
quite a while, before she bethought her of the neglected cloth, 
witli which she endued herself ver}^ leisurely." 

Du Chaillu was regarded by the Apingi as a " spirit" from 
some superior world, and they elected him king — Remandji 
being as eager for it as any of his subjects — in the hope that 
this would induce him to stay with them and make them plenty 
of beads and other "trade," without their being under the 
necessity of exchanging their cloth and ebony for them. They 
were firmly persuaded that he could do this through the instru- 
mentality of a powerful spirit which he possessed, in the shape 
of an old American clock ; and they actually assembled in im- 
mense numbers one day expecting to see him make a pile of 
beads as high as the highest tree, from which they could help 
themselves. He was formally invested with the kendo, or bell, 
on the 18th of December ; but his loyal subjects soon had the 
mortification of seeing that his new office put no restraint upon 
his roving proclivities. On the 29th he set out to the east- 
ward in the hope of reaching the country of the Ashangos, 
which he was told was only three days' journey distant. He 
pressed forward for five days without coming to any settle- 
ments, and was then compelled to turn back, reaching He- 
man dji's town again on the 5th of January, 1859. 

This was the end of Du Chaillu's explorations in Africa. 
He started on his return to the coast on January 16th; reached 
Obindji's town on the 24th, and Biagano on the 10th of Febru- 
ary. Here he spent long months in waiting for a ship to take 
him back to friends and civilization ; but on the 1st of June 
he was once more on shipboard and his travels ended.^' 

Next to his geographical and ethnological discoveries, the 
study which he made of the character and habits of the gorilla 
was the most important result of Du Chaillu's explorations. 
The existence of such an animal had been suspected, and per- 



* Between the years 1863 and 1865, Du Chaillu again travelled in Africa, 
penetrating the interior as far as Ashango-land ; but the object of this trip 
was simply to confirm the facts rehearsed in the foregoing pages — some of 
whieh had excited unreasonable and unxeasomng hostility in England. 



DU CHAILLU'S EXPLOBATIONS. 221 

Laps proved at an earlier date ; l)iit Du Chaillu was the first 
white man to penetrate to its native hannts and to write of it 
from personal knowledge. Ilis account of this strange animal 
is one of the most interesting and important of recent contri- 
butions to natural history ; — which is our excuse for reproduc- 
ing the substance of it here : 

'' Tlie gorilla liv^es in the darkest portions of the dense Afri- 
can jungle, preferring deep wooded valleys and also rugged 
heights. The high plains also, whose surface is strewn with 
immense boulders, seem to be favorite haunts. Water is found 
everywhere in this part of Africa, but I have noticed that the 
gorilla is always found very near to a plentiful supply. 

" It is a restless and nomadic beast, wandering from place to 
place, and scarce ever found for two days together in the same 
neighborhood. In part, this restlessness is caused by the strug- 
gle it has to find its favorite food. The gorilla, though it has 
such immense canines, and though its vast strength doubtless 
fits it to capture and kill almost every animal which frequents 
the forests, is a strict vegetarian. I examined the stomachs of 
all which I was lucky enough to kill, and never found traces 
there of aught but berries, pine-apple leaves, and other vegeta- 
ble matter. It is a huge feeder, and no doubt soon eats up the 
scant supply of its natural food which is found in any limited 
space, and is then forced to wander on in constant battle with 
famine. Its vast paunch, which swells before it when it stands 
npright, proves it to be a great feeder; and, indeed, its great 
frame and enormous muscular development could not be sup- 
ported on little food. 

" It is not true that it lives much or at all on trees. By the 
examination of the stomach of many specimens, I was able to 
ascertain with tolerable certainty the nature of its food, and I 
discovered that for all / found it had no need to ascend trees. 
It is fond of the wild sugar-cane; especially fond of the white 
ribs of the pine-apple leaf ; and it eats, besides, certain berries 
which grow close to the ground ; the pith of some trees, and a 
kind of nut with a very hard shell. This shell is so hard that 
it requires a strong blow with a heavy hammer to break it ; 
and here is probably one purpose of that enormous strength of 
jaw which long seemed to me thrown away on a non-cam ivorous 
animal, and which is sufficiently evidenced by the manner in 
which the barrel of the musket of one of my unfortunate hun- 
ters was flattened by an enraged male gorilla. Only the young 
gorillas sleep on trees, for protection from wild beasts. I have 
myself come upon fresh traces of a gorilla's bed on several oc- 



222 ^U VEAILLU'S EXPL0HAT10N8, 

casions, and could see that the male had seated himself with 
his back against a tree-trunk. In -fact, on tlie back of the male 
gorilla there is generally a patch on which the hair is worn tliin 
from this position, while the nest-building Troglodytes calvus^ 
or bald-headed nsJiiego^ which constantly sleeps under its leafy 
shelter on a tree-branch, has this bare place at its side, and in 
quite a different way. I believe, however, that while the male 
always sleeps at the foot of a tree, or elsewhere on the ground, 
the female may sometimes ascend to the tree-top, as I have 
seen marks of such ascension. 

" The gorilla is not gregarious. Of adults, I found almost al- 
ways one male with one female, though sometimes the old male 
wanders companion! ess. In such cases, as with the ' rogue ' 
elephant, he is particularly morose and malignant, and dangerous 
to approach. Young gorillas I found sometimes in companies 
of ^VQ ; sometimes less, but never more. The young always 
runs off, on all fours, shrieking with fear. They are difficult to 
approach, as their hearing is acute, and they lose no time in mak- 
ing their escape, while the nature of the ground makes it hard 
for the hunter to follow after. The adult animal is also shy, 
and I have hunted all day at times without coming upon my 
quarry, when I felt sure that they were carefully avoiding 
me. When, however, at last fortune favors the hunter, and he 
comes accidentally or by good management upon his prey, he 
need not fear its running away. In all my hunts and encoun- 
ters with this animal, I never knew a grown male to run off.' 
When I surprised a pair of gorillas, the male was generally sit- 
tino; down on a rock or ajxainst a tree, in some darkest corner 
of the jungle, where the brightest sun left its traces only in a 
dim and gloomy twilight. The female was mostly feeding 
near by ; and it is singular that she almost always gave the 
alarm by running off, with loud and sudden cries or shrieks. 
Then the male, sitting for a moment with a savage frown on 
his face, slowly rises to his feet, and, looking with glowing and 
malign eyes at the intruders, begins to beat his breast, and, lift- 
ing up his round head, utters his frightful roar. This begins 
with several sharp barks, like an enraged or mad dog, where- 
upon ensues a long, deeply guttural rolling roar, continued for 
over a minute, and which, doubled and multiplied by the re- 
sounding echoes of the forest, fills the hunter's ears like the deep 
rolling thunder of an approaching storm. I have reason to be- 
lieve that I have heard this roar at a distance of three miles. The 
horror of the animal's appearance at this time is beyond de- 
scription. It seems as monstrous as a nightmare dream — so 



DU CHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 223 

impossible a piece of liideousness that, were it not for the clan- 
ger of its savage approach, tlie hunter might fancy himself in 
some ngly dream. At such a sight 1 could forgive my brave 
native hunters that they were sometimes overcome with super- 
stitious fears, and ceased to wonder at the strange, weird ' go- 
rilla stories' of tlie negroes. 

" It is a maxim with the well-trained gorilla-hunters to reserve 
their fire to the very last moment. Experience has shown them 
that — whether the enraged beast takes the report of the gun 
for an answering defiance, or for what other reason unknown — 
if the hunter fires and misses, the gorilla at once rushes upon 
him ; and this onset no man can withstand. One blow of that 
huge paw, with its bony claws, and the poor hunter's entrails 
are torn out, his breast-bone broken, or his skull crushed. It is 
too late to I'eload, and fiight is vain. There have been negroes 
who in such cases, made desperate by their frightful danger, 
have faced the gorilla, and struck him with the empty gun. 
But they had time for only one harmless blow. The next mo- 
ment the huge arm came down with fatal force, breaking mus- 
ket and skull with one blow. I ima2:ine no animal is so fatal 
in its attack on man as this, for the reason that it meets him face 
to face, and uses its arms as its weapons of offence, just as a 
man or a prize-fighter would — only that it has longer arms, and 
vastly greater strength than the strongest boxer the world ever 
saw. 

" Now the gorilla is only met in the most dark and impenetra- 
ble jungle, where it is difficult to get a clear aim, unobstructed 
by vines and tangled bushes, for any distance greater than a 
few yards. For this reason, the gorilla-hunter wisely stands still 
and awaits the approach of the infuriated beast. The gorilla 
advances by short stages, stopping to utter his diabolical roar 
and to beat his vast breast Avith his paws, which produce a dull 
reverberation as of an immense bass-drum, which sound I have 
heard at the distance of a mile. Ilis walk is a w^addle, from 
side to side, his hind legs — which are very short — being evi- 
dently somewhat .inadequate to the proper support of the liuge 
superincumbent body. lie balances himself by swinging his 
arms, somewhat as sailors walk on shipboard ; and the vast 
paunch, the round bullet-head joined awkwardly to the trunk 
with scarce a vestige of neck, and the great muscular arms,- and 
deep, cavernous breast, give to this waddle an ungainly horror, 
which adds to his ferocity of appearance. At the same time, 
the deep-set gray eyes sparkle out with gloomy malignity ; the 
features are contorted in hideous wrinkles ; and the slight, 



224: D'O' CEAILLTT'S EXPLORATIONS. 

sharply cut lips, drawn up, reveal the long fangs and the power- 
ful jaws, in which a Imman limb would be crushed as a biscuit. 

"In shooting the hippopotamus at night and on shore, the ne- 
gro always scampers olf directly he has iired his gun. When 
he has fired at the gorilla he stands still. I asked wh}^ they 
did not run in this case too, and was answered that it was of 
no use. To run would be fatal. If the hunter has missed, he 
must battle for his life face to face, hoping by some piece of 
unexpected good fortune to escape a fatal blow, and come off, 
perhaps, maimed for life, as I have seen several in the up-river 
villages. Fortunately, the gorilla dies as easily as man ; a 
shot in the breast, if fairly delivered, is sure to bring him 
down. He falls forward on his face, his long, muscular arms 
outstretched, and uttering with his last breath, a hideous death- 
cry, half roar, half shriek, which, while it announces his safety 
to the hunter, yet tingles his ears with a dreadful note of hu- 
man agony. It is this lurking reminiscence of humanity, in- 
deed, which makes one of the chief ingredients of the hunter's 
excitement in his attack on the gorilla. 

" The common walk of the gorilla is not on his hind legs, but 
on all-fours. In this posture, the arms are so long that the 
head and breast are raised considerably, and as it runs the hind 
legs are brought far beneath the body. The leg and arm on the 
same side move together, which gives the beast a curious wad- 
dle. It can run at great speed. The young, parties of which 
I have often pursued, never took to trees, but ran along the 
ground, and at a distance, with their bodies half erect, looked 
not unlike negroes making off from pursuit. I have never 
found the female to attack, though I have been told by the ne- 
groes that a mother with a young one in charge will sometimes 
make fight. It is a pretty thing to see such a mother with the 
baby gorilla sportiiig about it. I have watched them in the 
wood, till, eager as I was to obtain specimens, I had not the 
heart to shoot. But in such cases my negro hunters exhibited 
no tender-heartedness, but killed their quarry without loss of 
time. When the mother runs off from the hunter, the young one 
grasps her about the neck, and hangs beneath her breasts with 
its little legs about her body. 

" The strength of the gorilla is evidently enormous. A young 
one of between two and three years of age required four stout 
men to hold it, and even then, in its struggles, bit one severely. 
That with its jaws it can dent a musket-barrel, and with its 
arms break trees from four to six inches in diameter, sufii- 
ciently proves that its vast bony frame has corresponding 



DU CHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. ' 225 

\fTi7SC'r» The negroes never attack them with ot'ier weapons 
than rruis; and in those parts of the far interior where no 
Eiu'opo^u guns had yet reached, as among the xlpingi, this great 
beast roamed unmolested, tlie monarch of the forest. To kill 
a gorilla gives a hunter a life-long reputation for courage and 
enterprise even among the bravest of the negro tribes, who are 
generally, it may be said, not lacking in this quality of 
courage. 

" The gorilla has no cries or utterances that I have heard except 
those already described, the short, sharp bark, and the roar of 
the attacking male, and the scream of the female and young 
when alarmed ; except, indeed, a low kind of a cluck, with 
vvhich the watchful mother seeems to call her child to her. The 
yoiuig ones have a cry when in distress, but their voice is harsh, 
and it is more a moan of pain than a child's cry. 

" It uses no artificial weapon of offence, but attacks always 
with its arms, though in a struggle no doubt the powerful teeth 
would play a part. I have several times noticed skulls in which 
the huge canines were broken off, not worn down, as they are 
in almost all the adult gorillas b}^ gnawing at trees which they 
wished to break, and which, without being gnawed into, are too 
strong even for them. Tlie negroes informed me that such 
teeth werebix)ken in combats between the males for possession 
of a female, and I think this quite probable. Such a combat 
must form a magnificent and awful spectacle. A struggle be- 
tween two well-matched gorillas would exceed in that kind of 
excitement which the Komans took such delight in, anything 
in that line which they were ever gratified with. 

" In height adult gorillas vary as much as men. The adult 
males in my collection range from five feet two inches to five 
feet eight ; and the parts of a skeleton which my friend Prof. 
Jeffries Wyman has, are so much larger than any in my posses- 
sion, that I am war]-anted in concluding the animal to which it 
belonged to have been at least six feet two inches in height. 
The female is much smaller, less strong, and of lighter frame. 
One adult female in my collection measured, when shot, four 
feet six inches. 

" The color of the skin in the gorilla, young as well as adult, 
is intense black. This color does not appear, however, except 
in the face, on the breast, and in the palms of the hands. The 
hair of a grown, but not aged specimen, is in color iron-gray. 
The individual hairs are ringed with alternate stripes of black 
and gray, which produces the iron-gray color. On the arms 
the hair is darker and also much longer, being sometimes over 
15 



226 



DU CHAILLWS EXPLORATIONS. 



two Indies long. It grows upward on the forearm and down- 
ward on the main arm. Aged gorillas, the negroes told me, 
turn quite gray all over ; and I have one huge male in my col- 
lection whose worn-out tusks show great age, and whose coloi 
is, in fact, a dirty gray. The head is covered with reddish- 
brown hair, short, and extending almost to the neck, or where 
the neck should be. 

''In the adult male the chest is bare. In the young male it is 
thinly covered with hair. In the female the mammse have ])iit 
a slight development, and the breast is bare. The color of the 
hair in the female is black, with a decided tinge of red. The 
hair on the arms is but little longer than that on the body, and 
is of a like color. The reddish crown which covers the scal[) 
of the male is not apparent in the female till she is grown. 




HEAD OF THE GOBILLA. 



" The eyes of the gorilla are deeply sunken, the immense over- 
hanging bony frontal ridge giving to the face the expression of 
a constant savage scowl. The mouth is wide, and the lips are 
sharply cut, exhibiting no red on the edges, as in the human face. 
The jaws are of tremendous weight and power. The huge ca- 
nines of the male, which are fully exhibited when, in his rage, 
he draws back his lips, lend additional ferocity to his aspect. 
In the female these canines are smaller. 

" The almost total absence of neck, which gives the head the 
appearance of being set into the shoulders, is due to the back- 
ward position of the juncture of the head with the trunk. The 
brain-case is low and compressed, and the lofty ridge of the skull 



DU CnAILLWS EXPLORATIONS. 227 

causes tlie cranial profile to describe an almost straight line from 
t!ie occiput to the supraorbital ridge. The immense develop- 
ment of the temporal muscles which arise from this ridge, and 
the corresponding size of the jaw, are evidences of the great 
strength of the animal. 

" Tlie eyebrows are thin, but not well defined, and are almost 
lost in the hair of the scalp. The eyelashes are thin also. The 
eyes are wide apart ; the ears are smaller than those of man, and 
in form closely resemble the human ear. They are almost on 
the same parallel with the eyes. In a front view of the face 
the nose is^ flat, but somewhat prominent, more so than in any 
other ape ; this on account of a slightly projecting nose-bone. 
The gorilla is the only ape which shows such a projection, and 
in this respect it comes nearer to man than any other of the 
man-like apes. 

'' The profile of the trunk shows a slight convexity. The chest 
is of great capacity ; the shoulders exceedingly broad ; the i)e''- 
toral regions show slightly projecting a pair of nipples, as in the 
other apes and in the human species. The abdomen is of im- 
mense size, very prominent, and rounding at the sides. Tlie 
arins have prodigious muscular development, and are very long, 
extending as low as the knees. The forearm is nearly of uni- 
form size from the wrist to the elbow. The great length of the 
arms and the shortness of the legs form one of the chief devjji- 
tions from man. The arms are not so long when compared with 
the trunk, but they are so in comparison with the legs. These 
are short, and decrease in size from below the knee to the ankle, 
having no calf. The superior length of the arm (humerus) in 
proportion to the forearm, brings the gorilla, in that respect, in 
closer anthropoid afiinities with man than any of the other 
apes. 

" The hands of the animal, especially in the male, are of im- 
mense size, strong, short, and thick. The fingers are short and of 
great size, the circumference of the middle finger at the first 
joint being in some gorillas over six inches. The thumb is 
shorter than in man, and not half so thick as the forefinger. 
The hand is hairy as far as the division of the fingers, those, as 
in man, being covered with short thin hairs. The palm of the 
hand is naked, callous, and intensely black. The nails are 
black, and shaped like those of man, but smaller in proportion, 
and projecting very slightly beyond the ends of the fingers. 
They are thick and strong, and always seem much worn. The 
hand of the gorilla is almost as wide as it is long, and in this 
it approaches nearer to those of man than any of the other apes. 



228 



BU CHAILLW8 EXPLORATIONS. 



The foot is proportionally wider than in man. The sole is 

callous and intensely black, 
and looks somewhat like a 
giant hand of immense power 
and grasp. The middle toe, 
or third, is longer tlian the 
second and fourth, the fifth 
proportionally shorter, as in 
man. The toes are divided 
into three groups, so to speak. 
Inside the great toe, outside 
the little toe, and the three 
others partly united by a 
web. As a whole, the foot 
of the gorilla presents a 
great likeness to the foot 
of man, and by far more so 
than in any other ape. In 
no other animal is the foot 
so well adapted for the main- 
tenance of the erect position. 
Also, the gorilla is much 
less of a tree-climber than 
any other ape. The foot in 
the gorilla is longer than the 
hand, as in man, while in 
the other apes the foot is 
somewhat shorter than the 
hand. The hair on the foot 
comes to the division of the 
toes, and those are slightly 
covered with thin hair. 

The gorilla skeleton, the 
skull excepted J resembles the 
bony frame of man more 
than that of any other an- 
thropoid ape. In the form 
and proportion of the pelvis, 
the number of ribs, the 
length of the arm, the width 
of the hand, and the struc- 
ture and arches of the feet — 
all these characteristics, and 
also some of its habits, appear to place the gorilla nearer to 




DU CHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS, 



229 




SKELETONS OF MAN AND THE GORILLA. 



Man has 
12 (and sometimes 13) pairs of ribs. 

7 cervical vertebras. 

12 dorsal (and sometimes 13) vertebra}. 

5 lumbar (sometimes 4) do. 

6 sacral do. 

8 carpal (wrist) bones. 



The Gorilla has 
13 pairs of ribs. 

7 cervical vertebrae. 
13 dorsal do. 

3 lumbar do. 
6 sacral do. 

8 oarpal (wrist) bones. 



230 



DU CHAILLU'S EXPLORATIONS. 



man than any other anthropoid ape is placed. The forego- 
ing cuts show more clearly than any amount of description 
could do, the main points of resemblance, and also of differ- 
ence. 




CnAPTER XI. 

SERVAL'S TRAVELS ON TIBS OGOTVAI. 

Ttits principal stream of equatorial West Africa, the region 
partially explored by Du Cliaillu, is the Opjowai. Up to the 
])resent moment we are in ignorance of the sources of this 
iiiiglity river, though it is known to draw its waters from an 
inland region far beyond the Sierra del Crystal Mountains, and 
perhaps from some one of the Central African lakes. Its mouth, 
which forms an immense triangular delta, lies under 1° S. 
latitude. Du Chaillu in his travels did not come in contact 
with the main stream of the Ogowai, only with its soutliern 
tributaries; in order to become acquainted with this great 
river, at least in its lower course, we must consult another au- 
thority — the French marine — Lieutenant Serval, who, in 1802, 
embarked in the steamer "Pioneer," and accom])anied by 
the ship's surgeon, Griffon du Bellay, ascended it as far m 
long. 11° 30' L. from Greenwich. 

Larly in July, in the midst of the dry season, they began 
the ascent of. the river; and on July 18th reached the point 
where the Kazareth (Nazare) diverges from the main stream. 
The river had fallen more than two feet since tliey started, and 
was becoming more and more shallow; iinally, on the 19th, 
the " Pioneer " ran agromid on a sand-bank distant about GU 
miles from the mouth. The only thing that could be done 
now was to take a row-boat. Of course very little progi-ess 
could be made with this, and they were de^xindcnt, moreover, 
on the good or ill will of the natives. 

The villasre near which the steamer m'ounded was named 
Dambo, and the name of the chief was Ngowa Akaga. lie 
behaved very decently ; in the evening he visited the Wa- 
tuuga, i.e., the big ship of the whites. His astonishment at all 
he saw was but slight; and in his praises he was very cautious 
too — which perhaps was fortunate, as whatever the Afi-ican 
l)raise3 he is apt to desire to possess. In return for some 
])rescnts, Ngowa gave the travellers a canoe and several Ixmt- 
nien ; and encouraged by this indication of friendly feeling, 
they set out on a journey up the river which lasted three weeks. 



232 SERYAL'S TRAVELS ON THE OQOWAl 

From far and near the people gathered to see the strange 
white men; they were very inquisitive, and very eager for 
presents, and every chief demanded a special introduction. If 
no attention was paid to their demands, they felt insulted. 
On one occasion, Serval sailed past the important town of 
Arumbe, without noticing it, as the boat was being rowed np 
the opposite side of the stream ; bnt he had hardly got by 
when a half dozen boats filled with armed natives came in pnr- 
suit, and demanded that he should turn back. At the same 
moment another fleet of armed boats came np from another 
village which had yet to be passed ; and between the two par- 
ties there ensued a lively palaver. It was finally determined 
that the white men shonld visit Arumbe on their retnrn, and 
they were allowed to resume their journey. This incident con- 
vinced Serval that they had better stop hereafter at every 
town which they had to pass. 

The travellers were now in the country of the Galos. This 
is the most important tribe on the Ogowa'i, and they appear to 
differ greatly from the others, though they all speak nearly the 
same language. The people seem to be uniformly idle and 
lazy. Their husbandry is of the most primitive character; 
the earth is simply scratched up here and there, and the seeds 
or roots stuck in ; Nature is left to do the rest. They know of 
no minerals or metals, not even iron. All their arms and im- 
plements are gotten from the European merchants and fac- 
tories, or from the Oschebas, living farther inland, who, like 
the Fans, know how to smelt and work the iron. 

As they passed up the river, the travellers were struck by a 
very peculiar appearance on the banks : circular holes of re- 
markable regularity, about a foot and a half in diameter, and 
a foot in depth. Most of them were free from water, owing 
to the great shallowness of the river. These holes are dug by 
the Cendu with their horned mouths, a fish which is verj^ often 
found here ; the}^ deposit their eggs in the holes. 

Serval wished to go up the Ogowa'i until he had reached the 
point where it is formed by the junction of the Okanda and 
the N'gouniay. He w^as in hopes of finding new tribes there ; 
the Eumikas, for instance, who have direct communication 
with the tributaries of the Gaboon River, and especially with 
the Oschebas, a people whose reputation extends down to the 
coast. The journey, however, was getting more and more 
perilous ; the people were becoming more greedy after the 
European articles hidden in the canoe, and were openly con- 
sidering whether they should plunder the boat by force ; and 



SERVAL'S TRAVELS OX THE OOOWAl. 233 

at last tlie travellers learned that the people of two larc'^c 
villages had agreed to rob them, and divide the proceeds. 
To make a fiirtlier advance under such circumstances was out 
of the question, and Serval resolved to turn back and visit tlic 
lake of Jononga, of which the people of the Ogowai, and es- 
pecially the Galos, had told him the most singular stoi-ies. 
The sanctuary of their religion is located there ; and there, it 
was said, curious phenomena were to be seen. In tlie clouds 
immense vessels of the whites were swimming, which sailed 
past Cape Lopez, a distance of more than 125 miles. Power- 
ful and malignant spirits also lived there, so it was said ; and 
if the uninitiated attempted to land on the sacred islands which 
lay on the bosom of the lake, his vessel would be capsized, and 
every one in it drowned. If the adventurers were white peo- 
ple, that would not alter the case ; on the contrary, the posses- 
sion of a white skin increased the danger of such an attempt. 
Stories like these, and many others, were told them far and 
near, and also along the Nyomo, the stream through which the 
lake has its outlet into the Ogowai. They penetrated to it 
nevertheless. 

" The first island you come to in this lake," says Serval, "is 
the Asinghibuiri, and upon it we remained overnight. Here 
the lake presents an indescribable spectacle ; it runs in and out 
like sharp points, and from every cove of the mountainous 
shore may be seen torrents which empty themselves into the 
lake. None of the many tributaries, however, are of any im- 
portance. In the dry season the lake has a depth of about 
four to six feet ; and the water is clear and transparent, wliile 
throughout its course the water of the Ogowai shows a peculiar 
reddish color. On the east the landscape rises very rapidly 
until it reaches the Aschampolo Mountains, which close the 
horizon in this direction. Through these mountains the 
Ogowai breaks its way. The vegetation on the shoi'es of the 
lake is wonderfully pretty, — the Abos-trees are beautiful, and 
there is an abundance of the caoutchouc-Lianes, whereas the 
oil-palm is very scarce. The shore's edge is grown over with 
grass, and close to the water stands a neat Ilemerocallis, with 
white blossoms ; no reeds or any similar plants are to be seen, 
which indicates that there is no stagnant water or swam]>v 
bottom. Very likely this part of the country bordering on the 
lake is healthy." 

Very few of the Galos inhabit it, however. Farther ofiF, on 
the other side of the Aschampolo Mountains, live the Aschii-a<. 
The travellers met two of them; their foreheads are low and 



234 SERYAL'S TRAVELS ON THE OGOWAI. 

retreating, and the face bony, without any expression or intelli- 
gence. They chiefly inannfacture the line and soft mats which 
are known among the traders as Loango, or Loando, mats. The 
Aschiras file their teeth to a point. On the forest-clad sides of 
the Aschampolo mountains live some of the Bakalai people, who 
have been described in the preceding chapter. They are very 
warlike, and put the slave-dealers in possession of many an 
Aschira ; but they are careful to avoid quarrelling with their 
neighbors near the river, as tliey often need their help in order 
to communicate with the coast. 

Asinghiburi, where the strangers remained overnight, and 
received good treatment, is inliabited l^y the Galos. The Ar- 
umbi island, situated toward the middle of the lake, is the 
sacred ground of the Galos creed. The Fetich-priests are raised 
and trained here for the entire population, and for this purpose 
there is a kind of seminary or retreat on the island. Ser- 
val saw about a dozen of the boys from the seminary ; they 
looked quite intelligent, but were very curiously dressed. They 
wore an apron, similar to that of the Bakalai ; it hung over 
their hips, fastened by a belt made of white beads and orna- 
mentedwith beads made from red chenille. From its indented 
edges were suspended pieces of blue glass, beads, and bells. 
On their arms and legs thej^ wore heavy rings made of brass. 
This seminary dress is worn by the young Fetich-levite until 
he is 17 or 18 years of age ; then he is initiated into the mys- 
tei'ies of their religion and " sees the Fetich." Up to tliis time 
it has been his duty to avoid the company of women ; but now 
that he is a priest he leaves the sacred islands and mingles 
with the rest of the world like any other person. 

The islands were not visited by the travellers, as this privi- 
lege belongs exclusively to the great Fetich-men ; but they sailed 
around them in their boat. Just opposite the entrance from the 
river they came upon another small stream through which the 
Jonongo communicates with another small lake, the Eliva AYi- 
dangu. It is just after entering this stream that the before- 
mentioned cloud-phenomena are to be seen, — though they are 
only visible in rainy weather. " Tlie story," says Serval, " does 
not seem to be wholly manufactured, for if you stand at the en- 
trance of the lake, during rainy weather and shortly after sun- 
rise, with your face turned toward the west, then you will see 
white figures in the clouds. The peojjle declare that ships can 
sometimes be seen in them which sail by Cape Lopez ; every 
detail, so they say, is plainly visible — how they manoeuvre, pull 
their sails in, and fire off their cannons. Suddenly all disap- 



SERVAL'8 TRAVELS ON THE OGOWAI. 



235 



pears again. This can all be explained, probably, as the effect 
of a peculiar mirage ; at all events it is a phenomenon which 
fills the inhabitants with superstitious reverence." 

The travellers induced two of the Fetich-seminarists to ac- 
company them to the town of N'Dembo, where the King of the 
Galos liad already been expecting them. His majesty shone 
forth in all his 
gala-dress, which 
is given correctly 
in our illustra- 
tion. '' lie was 
wearing an old- 
fashioned gener- 
al's nniform, as 
far as the upper 
half of his body 
was concerned ; 
lower down his 
dress looked rather 




scanty, especially 
if one considers 
that Jondo-goiro 
is not only king 
but at the same 
time a kind of 
Pope or archbishop 
in his country. 
Heaven only knows 
where tlicse pieces 
of uniform came 
from ; but there 
wei'o epaulettes of 
yellow wool, abun- 
dance of green embroidery, and on the brass buttons were three 
cannons lying across each other, with the inscription ' Ubique.' " 
A second high-priest, who in religious matters has a little more 
power than the king, lives in another village on the Ogowa'i, and 
seldom comes to N'Dembo. lie as well as the king is a descend- 
ant from a priestly family; and they were in close alliance, 
as Jondo-goiro had taken a cousin of the head priest for 
his wife, while the latter had married a daughter of the 
king. 

The little old King in his general's uniform, with its big col- 
lar reaching above his ears, and the sleeves nearly up to the el- 



KINQ JONDO-GOIRO. 



236 SEUVAL'S TRAVELS OUT THE OGOWAI. 

bow, stood on the river-bank as the travellers approached and 
stretched out his arms toward his people — this is his mode of 
influencing them towards being religiously inclined. In his 
left hand he held a bell, the sign of his kingh^ power and dig- 
nity ; with the other hand he crumbled up a piece of bread, 
threw the small pieces into the water, and thus addressed the 
spirits : " Here are white people — they come here to see you — 
do not make them sick ; they came to bring you presents — do 
not let them die, but let them return in health to the Gaboon." 
This simple prayer seemed to be kindly meant ; but it did not 
prove effective in all its parts, as Serval subsequently caught 
the fever. As soon as he had finished crumbling the bread, 
Jondo-goiro filled his mouth with brandy (which gets into this 
•part of the country through Europeans) and squirted 
it up into the air. This ended the ceremony of re- 
ception. 

After a day's stay the travellers took leave of the 
people of N'Dembo, and sailed down the Ogowai, 
visiting another small village called Kioge which is 
not far from the village of Avanga Wisi. Galos live 
on the river banks down to this point ; then come 
the tribes which are in direct communication with 
the coast. 

The people of Arumbe had made up their minds 
to plunder the travellers of whatever they could, 
and also to punish the pilot, as they considered it 
his fault that the boat had passed. them on the up 
journey without stopping at their village. Hearing 
of their intention, Serval and his party drifted past 
Arumbe daring the night, and by sunrise had al- 
ready arrived at the Bandu, or Bango, which 
branches off from the Ogowai and streams into the 
ocean, forming the southern boundary of the great 
delta. 

Serval also visited the Anengue Lake, which we 
iTATivE rooL already know through Du Chaillu's travels ; and 
IvTj!^,' *^^^^ returned by way of the French settlements on 
the coast. 



Early in 1874 two other Frenchmen, MM. Compiegnc and 



SERVAL'8 TRAVELS ON THE OGOWAl. 



237 



Marche, ascended the Ogowai, and reached a point 200 miles 
farther inland than any previous explorer. Tliey were told by 
the natives that the river came from four great lakes ; and they 
had penetrated within four days' journey of these lakes when 
they were fired upon by the Osyebas (Oschebas ?) and compelled 
to turn back. Details of the journey have not yet been pub- 
lished. 




CHAPTEE XII. 

BURTON AND SPEZB. 

In 1856 Captain' Eichard F. Burton, of the Indian Army, 
having just returned from a brief visit to the Somali coast of 
Africa, in which, disguised as an Arab merchant, he had suc- 
ceeded in reaching the Mahometan city of Harar, proposed 
to the Eoyal Geographical Society an expedition for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining the limits of the '* Sea of Ujiji, or 
Unyamwezi Lake," and to report upon the exportable produce 
of the interior and the ethnography of its tribes. This pro- 
posal, after some hesitation, was accepted by the Society, and 
the Foreign Office granted £1,000 for the expenses of the ex- 
pedition. The directors of the East India Company granted 
Captain Burton a two years' leave of absence, and also de- 
tailed another officer of the Bombay army, Captain John Han- 
ning Speke, to accompany him. 

They reached Zanzibar in December, 1856, but owing to the 
difficulty of collecting the guides, porters, donkeys, etc., and 
of procuring the great variety of supplies, presents, and articles 
for barter with the native tribes, necessary for an expedition, 
it was the 28th of June, 1857, before they actually set out from 
Bagamoyo for the unlniown interior. The expedition as 
finally organized consisted of Said bin Salim, an officer ap- 
pointed by the sultan of Zanzibar; thirteen Baloch soldiers 
commanded by a Jemadar, also furnished by the sultan ; Bom- 
bay and Mabruki, negroes from India ; two Portuguese half- 
caste servants from Goa ; eight interpreters, guides, and " war- 
men," under an African freeman named Kidogo ; five donkey- 
drivers, thirty-six porters, and a few supernumeraries, making 
a total of eighty-eight persons. 

Only the narrow strip of coast-line is subject to the Arab 
sultan, and a march of five miles from Bagamoyo brought them 
into the territory of the native tribes. " On the wayside ap- 
peared for the first time the Khamb% or substantial kraals, 
which give evidence of unsafe travelling and the unwillingness 
of caravans to bivouac in the villages. In this region they as- 
sumed the form of round huts, and long sheds or booths of 



BURTON AND SPEKE. 239 

straw or grass, supported by a framework of rough sticks firmly 
planted in the ground and lashed together with bark strips. 
The whole was surrounded with a deep circle of thorns, which — 
the entrance or entrances being carefully closed at nightfall, not 
to reopen until dawn — formed a complete defence against bare 
feet and naked legs." 

The country through which they first passed presented in its 
general appearance "a mingling of bush and forest, wliich, 
contracting the horizon to a few zunds," was most wearisome 
and monotonous. "The black, greasy ground, veiled witli 
thick shrubbery, supports in the more open spaces screens of 
tiger and spear grass, twelve and thirteen feet high, with every 
blade a finger's breadth, and the towering trees are often clothed 
from root to twig with huge epiphytes, forming heavy columns 
of densest verdure, and clustering upon the tops in the sem- 
blance of enormous birds'-nests. The footpaths are crossed by 
llianas, creepers, and climbers, thick as coir-cables, some connect- 
ing the trees in a curved line, others stretched straight down the 
trunks, and others winding in all directions around their sup- 
ports, frequently crossing one another like network, and stunt- 
ing the growth of even the vivacious calabash, by coils like roj^e 
tightly encircling its neck. The earth, ever rain-drenched, emits 
the odor of sulphuretted hydrogen, and in some parts the 
traveller might fancy a corpse to be hidden behind every- 
bush." 

In these maritime parts the local tribes are the Wazaramo 
and the Wak'hutu, and a large sub-tribe called the Yv^aziraiia. 
There is, besides, a floating population composed of immigrant 
tribes, but they are not numerous, neither is their influence 
great. 

The Wazaramo are the most powerful and rich of all the in- 
habitants of this region, and they include many sub-tribes. 
They are remarkable for their greasy odor, their wild, staring 
expression, their coarseness of feature, their loose and lounging 
gait, and their peculiar mode of dressing their hair, which is 
matted together by means of a peculiar kind of cla^-, mois- 
tened with the juice of the castor-bean. When this primitiNe 
pomatum is nearly dry, the hair is pulled out into numerous 
wiry twists, till the whole head seems to be covered with a 
thick and stiff thatch. They are turbulent and impracticable 
in their character, and live principally upon the plunder which 
they extort from merchants and travellers under pretence of 
dues. Their nearness to the coast, and the consequent inter- 
course with traders, must no doubt have affected them in many 



240 BURTON AND 8PEKE. 

ways, and particularly in regard to their dress, which, for Afri- 
cans, is extravagant. It consists of a long loin-cloth of unbleached 
cotton stained with their favorite color, a dirty yellow ; girdles and 
bead necklaces of various tints ; white disks, made from sea-shells, 
and worn on the forehead or the neck ; massive rings on the 
wrist, and tight collars, bright and gaudy, tied round the neck. 
These are the principal parts of their attire. The meo, over 
and above all this, are usually armed to the teeth with spears, 
bows and arrows, daggers, and muskets, when they can get 
them. In other social respects they are also superior to their 
neighbors. Their settlements are strongly palisaded, and 
altliough their houses are very poor, they possess convenient 
arrangements, which are unknown in the distant interior. 
Their morality is very low. The marriage-tie, is very loose 
among them. The man can dissolve the union when he 
pleases, without assigning a reason, or having one. He may 
have as many or as few wives as his tastes or his means ]nay 
suggest. 

The Wak'hutu are an inferior race. Cloth or cotton is un- 
known among them. They live in almost perpetual intoxica- 
tion ; lead miserable lives ; their villages are very filthy, and 
the huts which compose them are of the meanest possible de- 
scription. Their sub-tribe, the Waziraha, are distinguished by 
their great profusion of beard. In Africa, this appendage is usu- 
ally either absent or scanty; with the Waziraha it is abundant. 
The Wadoe are the chief of the immigrant tribes. They were 
once formidable, but are now broken and dispersed. They are 
wild and savage in their appearance, and as much so in their 
manners and customs. They drink out of human skulls ; and 
tliey bury their great men in a sitting posture, with a forefin- 
ger sticking out of the earth. Slavery is prevalent here, and 
another of the burial superstitions is still observed, that of in- 
terring with a deceased chief a male and a female slave, the 
one to cut fuel for him, and the other to support his head on 
her lap. 

Zungomero, at which the travellers arrived on the 26th of July, 
lies at the foot of the first range of mountains at the extreme 
limit of the maritime region. It lies upon the main route to 
the interior, and is the great commercial centre of all these 
parts. The place is well situated for traffic, does a considera- 
ble amount of business, and being visited by many caravans up 
and down, is generally crowded in the travelling season. It is 
extremely unhealthy, however ; and as both Burton and Speke 
had already suffered much from the malarious fever of the 



BURTON AND 8PEKE, 241 

lowlands, tliey were anxious to pnsli on. But additional por- 
ters had to be provided, and they had also to await tlie arrival 
of more supplies which had been forwarded from the coast ; 
60 that it was not until August 7tli that the caravan (now num- 
bering 132 persons) again set out. The first march continued 
for five hours, and lay across a sandy soil, sweating and smok- 
ing with hot springs. Both Burton and Speke were so ill that 
they could scarcely sit upon their riding-asses ; but at Mzizi 
Mdogo, on the first slope of the mountains, there was a won- 
drous cliange of climate, which banished for the time their 
wasting fevers. On the way thither they were shocked by the 
sight of many skeletons picked clean to the bone, the remains 
of porters who had perished in the same route from starvation 
or disease. This particular expedition suffered in common 
with those whoiiad gone before them. Some of their porters 
hired at Zungomero died, and every now and then a baggage 
ass wandered away or became unfit to proceed, and had to be 
abandoned. 

On the 23d of August, towards evening, after having 
traversed a plain between two ranges of mountains, they 
heard the sound of a drum, the usual indication of a village, 
which was the last thing they expected to find in so desolate a 
neighborhood. As they advanced they came upon what was 
simply the debris of a, village which had once been flourishing, 
but which now presented a pitiable spectacle of recent destruc- 
tion. The huts were rent in fragments and half burnt down. 
The ground was strewn with broken fragments of 'the contents 
of the houses, nets, and drums. There were no traces of blood; 
but it was evident that this was the scene of a recent outrage, 
probably by slave-dealers. Two of the terrified villagers who 
had escaped alive were seen lurking in the jungle, not daring 
to visit the wreck of their former homes. But the slaves and 
porters em])l()yed by the expedition were so little affected by 
what they saw, that they spent the night in singing and danc- 
ing, and helping themselves to whatever they could find in the 
midst of the ruins. 

Beacliiug llumuma, one of the resting-places for caravans, 
they found provisions comparatively abundant, and the natives 
quite alive to the advantages of their market. Troops of them 
came down from the hills with fowls and vegetables, and goats, 
bullocks, and sheep; and their sultan, having paid a visit to 
Captain Burton, insisted on making brotherhood wuth one of 
his uicn — a ceremony w^hicli consists in letting a little blood on 
both sides, and mutually tasting it, the solemn barbai'ity ter- 
16 



242 BURTON AND 8PEKE. 

minating in an exchange of presents. The climate of Rumu- 
ma was a pleasant change after the incessant rains of the 
valleys and the dense fogs and mists of the neighboring moun- 
tains ; but even here the locality was unhealthy, and sickness 
broke put among the porters, and occasioned inconvenience to 
the expedition. They had now passed two parallel ranges of 
the mountains, and were on their way across the plain that 
leads to the Eiibeho, a third range. And now they found 
signs of cultivation such as they had not witnessed in the for- 
mer part of their journey — beehives hanging to the branches 
of trees, watermelons ripening on the flat roofs of the villages, 
pumpkins and cucumbers in profusion, and comfortable huts. 
The heat, however, was intense, and the place was infested 
with termites, which were very troublesome, and which abound 
in the red, moist clay soils, and in the cool damp places. These 
creatures are endowed with extraordinary powers of destruc- 
tion. They have been known to drill a hard clay bench, so as 
«to make it like a sieve, in a single night. With incredible 
rapidity they destroy straps, mats, umbrellas, and cloths, per- 
forating, pulverizing, or tearing them to rags, according to the 
nature of the texture. 

Water was scarcely to be found in this plain which the ex- 
pedition was now crossing, and in such circumstances it was 
necessary to resort to what is called the " tirikeza." This is a 
march which starts in the afternoon from a place where there 
is water. The preparations for it, which last two or three hours, 
begin before noon. At length when everything is ready, all 
hands indulge in a parting drink, and, filling their gourds, set 
out under the fiery sun. The journey is long, as the porters 
wish to make the next morning's march, which leads to water, 
as short as possible. It is often midnight before they arrive 
at their destination, exhausted, lacerated by the jungle, and 
.sometimes lamed by dangerous slips in the innumerable holes 
.and cavities which are dug by field-rats and other burrowing 
vermin. 

Having successfully accomplished their march on the 3d of 
tSeptember, the expedition reached the " Windy Pass " at the 
foot of the third range of the Usagara Mountains, on the fol- 
lowing day. There was great rejoicing at the happy termina- 
tion of the much disliked " tirikeza." But the climate was as 
'bad as that of Kumuma — a furnace by day, and a refrigerator 
hj night ; but what of that ? They lay in a cheerful ravine, 
iand from the settlements abovethe inhabitants flocked down to 
barter animals and grain, and their eyes were gladdened foi 




TUE ENCAMPMENT IN UGOGO- 



BURTON AND SPEKE, 243 

the first time since they left the coast with visions of milk, 
lioney, and clarified butter. It is not necessary to have had tlie 
same experience to judge of the delight with which the men 
celebrated their arrival at this station, remaining up half the 
night, beating drums and singing songs. On the next morn- 
ing there arrived a dozen caravans with about four hundred 
porters, with whom, notwithstanding the many jealousies which 
obtain among these people, the carriers of the expedition im- 
mediately fraternized. The merchants also waited a few days 
while Burton prepared dispatches for the Royal Geographical 
Society to forward by them to the coast. 

But the most difficult part of the journey was still to come. 
From their camp in the valley, the travellers could look upon 
the almost perpendicular path scarring the face of the moun- 
tain up which they and their loaded beasts had next to toil. 
Captain Barton says, " Trembling with ague, with swimnn'ng 
heads, ears deafened by weakness, and limbs that could hardly 
support us, we contemplated this prospect with dogged de- 
spair." But they braced themselves to their task, and set them- 
selves to its accomplishment. It was fearful work, the asses 
stumbling at every step, and the men scaling a precipice of 
rolling stones, and never likely to reach the top. In the midst 
of their labor, exhausted by thirst, illness, and fatigue, the war- 
cry rang out suddenly from hill to hill, and broken files of 
archers and spearmen streamed down the paths in all directions, 
to take advantage of the departure of the caravan for a preda- 
tory excursion among the villages. But the travellers, being 
permitted to proceed, reached the summit at the end of six 
hours. Captain Speke seems to have suffered most. He made 
the ascent almost in a state of coma, by the help of two or 
three supporters, and two days of violent delirium followed 
before he was able to resume the journe}^ ; and, even then, lie 
was in his hammock. The descent of the western slopes was 
toilsome, but easy in comparison with the previous ascent. 
Boulders and great stones now obstructed the track which led 
down into the Dungomaro, or " Devil's Glen," which opens out 
upon the plains of Uc^ogo, where the second region of the 
journey terminates. The '* Devil's Glen " is one of the most 
remarkable of the scenes through which they passed. It is a 
large crevasse in lofty rocks of flint and gray granite, the bot- 
tom being strewn with blocks, and the sides lined with narrow 
ledges of brown humus, supporting dwarf cactuses and stunted 
thorny trees, high stony peaks towering over all, and closing in 
the view on every side. As they advanced, the huge blocks of 



244 BURTON AND SPEKE. 

stone sometimes rose perpendicularly to height of more than a 
a hundred feet, and the path itself became a sheet of sliinipg 
rock, with broad gaps in it cut by the action of the torrents. 
Gradually, the great stone walls were succeeded by low banks 
of earth, clad with gum-trees ; and the glen, becoming broad 
and smooth, swept away, verging southwards, into the plain. 

The region just passed is called tlie mountain region, and 
Burton G-ives the followina^ account of it : 

" The second or mountain region extends from the western 
frontier of K'liutu, at the head of the alluvial valley, in E. long. 
37° 28', to the province of Ugogi, the eastern portion of the flat 
table-land of Ugogo, in E. long 36° 14^ Its diagonal breadth is 
85 geographical and rectilinear miles ; the native caravans, if 
lightly laden, generally traverse it in three weeks, including 
three or four halts. Its length cannot be estimated. Accord- 
ing to the guides, Usagara is a prolongation of the mountains 
of Nguru, or Ngu, extending southward, with a gap forming 
the fluviatile valley of the Rwaha or Ruliji River. The Usa- 
gara chain is of the first order in East Africa ; it is indeed the 
only important elevation in a direct line from the coast to 
Western Unyamwezi ; it would hold, however, but a low grade 
in the general system of the earth's mountains. The highest 
point above sea-level, was 5,700 feet; there are, however, 
peaks which may rise to 6,000 and even to 7,000 feet, thus 
rivalling the inhabited portion of the Neilglierries, in Southern 
India. 

" From the mingling of lively colors, Usagara is delightful 
to the eye, after the monotonous tracts of verdure which pall 
upon the sight at Zanzibar and in tlie river valleys. The sub- 
soil, displayed in the deeper cuts and ravines, is either of gran- 
ite, greenstone, schiste, or a coarse incipient sandstone, brown 
or green, and outcropping from the ground with strata steeply 
tilted up. In the higher elevations tlie soil varies in depth 
from a few inches to thirty feet ; it is often streaked with long 
layers of pebbles, apparently water-rolled. The plains, basins, 
and steps, or facets of table-land found at every elevation, are 
fertilized by a stripe-work of streams, runnels, and burns, 
which, anastomosing in a single channel, flow off into the main 
drain of the country. Cultivation is found in patches isolated 
by thick belts of thorny jungle, and the villages are few and 
rarely visited. As usual in hilly countries, they are built upon 
iiigh ridges and the slopes of cones, for rapid drainage after 
rain, a purer air and fewer mosquitoes, and, perhaps, protection 
from kidnappers. The country people bring dowm their sup- 



BURTON AND SPEKE. 245 

plies of grain and pulse for caravans. There is some delay and 
difficulty on the first day of arrival at a station, and provisions 
for a party exceeding a hundred men are not to be depended 
upon after the third or fourth marketing, when the people have 
exhausted their stores. Fearing the thievish disposition of the 
Wasagara, who will attempt even to snatch away a cloth from 
a sleeping man, travellers rarely lodge near their settlements. 
Kraals of thorn, capacious circles inclosing straw boothies, are 
found at every march, and, when burned or destroyed by 
accident, they are rebuilt before the bivopac. The roads, as 
usual in East Africa, are tracks trodden down by caravans and 
cattle, and the water-course is ever the favorite pass. Many 
of the ascents and descents are so proclivitous that donkeys 
must be relieved of their loads; and in fording the sluggish 
streams, where no grass forms a causeway over the soft, viscid 
mire, the animals sink almost to the knees. The steepest paths 
are those in the upper regions ; in the lower, though the in- 
clines are often severe, they are generally longer, and conse- 
quently easier. At the foot of each hill there is cither a mud 
or a water course dividino; it from its neighbor. These ob- 
staclcts greatly reduce the direct distance of the day s march. 

'' The clans now tenanting these East African ghauts are the 
Wasagara — with their chief sub-tribe, the Wakwivi — and the 
Waliche ; the latter a small body inhabiting the south-western 
corner, and extending into the plains below. 

" The limits of w asagara have already been laid down by 
the names of the plundering tribes that surround them. These 
mountaineei-s, though a noisy and riotous race, are not over- 
blessed with courage; they will lurk in the jungle with bows 
and arrows to surprise a stray porter ; but they seem ever to 
be awaiting an attack — the best receipt for inviting it. In the 
higher slopes they are Hue, tall, and sturdy men ; in the low- 
lands they' appear as degraded as the Wak'liutu. They are a 
more bearded race than any other upon this line of East Africa, 
and, probably from extensive intercourse with the Wamrima, 
most of them understand the language of the coast. The 
women are remarkable for a splendid development of limb, 
while the bosom is lax and pendent. 

" The Wasagara display great varieties of complexion, some 
being almost black, while the others are chocolate-colored. 
This difference cannot be accounted for by the mere effects of 
climate — level and temperature. Some shave the head; others 
wear the Arab's shushah, a kind of skull-cap growth, extending 
more or less from the poll. Among them is seen, for the liist 



MQ BUMTOW AND SPEKE. 

time on this line, tlie classical coiffure of ancient Egypt, The 
hair, allowed to attain its fullest length, is twisted into a multi- 
tude of the thinnest ringlets, each composed of two thin lengths 
wound together ; the wiry stiffness of the curls keeps them dis- 
tinct and in position. Behind, a curtain of pigtails hangs 
down to the nape ; in fronts the hair is either combed off the 
forehead, or it is brought over the brow and trimmed short. 
No head-dress has a wilder or a more characteristically African 
appearance than this, especially when, smeared with a pomatum 
of micaceous ochre, and decorated with brass beads, balls, and 
similar ornaments, it waves and rattles with every motion of the 
head. Young men and warriors adorn their locks with the feath- 
ers of vultures, ostriches, and a variety of bright-plumed jays, 
and some tribes twist each ringlet with a string of reddish fibre. 
It is seldom combed out, the operation requiring for a head of 
thick hair the hard work of a w^hole day." 

Ugogi, at which the next lialt was made, is 2,763 feet above 
the level of the sea, and is surrounded by a country tolerably 
rich in grain and cattle ; but being a great gathering-point for 
caravans, and frequently robbed by marauders on account of its 
fertility, it is not always possible to obtain provisions in propor- 
tion to the natural capabilities of the place. This uncertainty 
presented a discouraging prospect to our travellers, who had to 
look forward to a march of four days before they could reach a 
spot where either provisions or water could be procured. But, 
fortunately, they arrived at Ugogi at a moment when they 
were able to provide themselves with all they wanted, and could 
resume their journey with grain for six days and water for one 
night. Ziwa, a small pond of water, was reached the day after 
leaving Ugogi ; and here blackmail began to be systematically 
enforced. Hitherto the chiefs had been satisfied with presents, 
more or less roughly exacted ■; but at Ziwa, tribute is openly 
taken by force if it be not yielded willingly. There is no fixed 
tariff, the rate being regulated by the condition and supposed 
wealth of the traveller. Disputes always arise between the 
authorities of the place and their victims ; and Captain Bur- 
ton's party were delayed four days in discussing the question of 
organized plunder. Similar delays occurred at all the villages 
and stopping-places throughout the region which bears the 
name of Ugogo. Their worst encounter was at a place called 
l^yika, or " the Wilderness," at which there resided a scrt of 
ogre, popularly known as Short Shanks, who was at that time, 
and possibly may still be, the terror of all strangers. This 
petty tyrant they found to be the most powerful of all the 



BURTON AND SPEKE. 247 

chiefs of this region — a sliort, elderly man, nearly bald, ^' of 
the color of chocolate, and built very much like a duck." Tlie 
difficulty of doing business with him arose from his habit of 
dividing his day into two parts, in one of which he was always 
Burly and unreasonable on the matter of terms, and in the other 
always drunk, when he refused to transact any negotiations 
whatever. The consequence was that the caravans were com- 
pelled to wait upon his humors, and were sometimes forced to 
work in his fields before he would consent to receive his dues. 
Our travellers were detained five days at this clearing, and 
were fortunate at last in being allowed to escape with a lighter 
mulct than might have been expected under the circumstances. 
In this third region of their journey, there is at the extremity 
of the territory a large and populous settlement, known as Tura 
Nullah. Their entrance into it was very characteristic of the 
country and tlie people. Captain Burton says : 

" We reached a large expanse of pillar-stones, where the van 
had hahed, in order that the caravan miglit make its first ap- 
pearance witli dignity. Then ensued a clearing, studded with 
large stockaded villages, peering over tall hedges of dark-green 
milk-busli, fields of maize and millet, manioc, gourds, and 
water-melons, and showing numerous flocks and herds, cluster- 
ing around the shallow pits. The people swarmed from their 
abodes, young and old hustling one another for a better stare, 
the man forsook his loom, and the girl her hoe, and for the re- 
mainder of the march we were escorted by a tail of screaming 
boys and shouting adults ; the males almost luide, the women 
bare to the waist, and clothed only knee-deep in kilts, accom- 
panied us, puffing pipes the while, striking their hoes with 
stones, crying, * Beads! beads ! ' and ejaculating their wonder in 
strident expressions of ^ Hi ! hi ! ' and ' Hiu ! ih ! ' and ' Ha ! a ! 
a!'" 

As is the custom of the country, the porters took immediate 
possession of the nearest large village, the whole company dis- 
persing themselves through the courts and compounds of which 
it was composed. The two white men were placed under a wall- 
less roof, bounded on one side by the village palisade, and here 
the mob stationed themselves to stare, relieving one another 
from morning till night. 

The land now passed over was i\\Q third of the five great re- 
gions into which Burton divides the area between the coast 
and Lake Tanganyika ; and the following is the substance of 
his account of it : 

"The third division of the country visited is a flat table-land 



248 BUBTON AND SPEEE. 

extending, from the Ugogi valley, at the western base of the 
"VVasagara Mountains, in E. longitude 36° 14', to Tiira, the 
eastern district of Unyamwezi, inE. longitude 33° 57'; occupy- 
ing a diagonal breadth of .155 geographical rectilinear miles. 
The lengtli from north to south is not so easily estimated. The 
average of the heights observed is 3,650 feet, with a gradual 
rise westward to Jivre la Mkoa, which attains an altitude of 4,200 
feet. This third region, situated to leeward of a range whose 
height compels the south-east trades to part with their load of 
vapors,' and distant from the succession of inland seas which, 
stationed near the centre of tlie African continent, act as reser- 
voirs to restore the balance of humidity, is an arid, sterile land, 
a counterpart in many places of the Kalahari and the Karroo, 
or South African desert-plains. The general aspect is a glaring 
yellow flat, darkened by long growths of acrid, saline, and suc- 
culent plants, thorny bushes, and stunted trees, and the color- 
ing is monotonous in the extreme. It is sprinkled with isolated 
dwarf cones, bristling with rocks and boulders, from whose 
interstices springs a thin forest of gums, thorns, and mimosas. 

" The climate of Ugogo is markedly arid. During the tran- 
sit of the expedition in September and October, the best water- 
colors faded and hardened in their pans ; India-rubber, espe- 
ciall}^ the prepared article in squares, became viscid, like half- 
dried bird-lime ; ' Macintosh ' was sticking-plaster, and the 
best vulcanized elastic bands tore like brown paper. During 
almost the wliole year a violent east wind sweeps from the 
mountains. There are great changes in the temperature, while 
the weather apparently remains the same, and alternate cur- 
rents of hot and cold air were observed. 

" The superiorit}^ of climate, and probably the absence of 
that luxuriant vegetation which distinguishes the eastern re- 
gion, have proved favorable to the ])hysical development of the 
races living in and about Ugogo. The Wagogo, and their north- 
ern neighbors, the Wahumba, are at once distinguishable from 
the wretched population of the alluvial valleys, and of the 
mountains of Usagara ; though living in lower altitudes, they 
are a fairer race — and therefore show better blood — than AYan- 
yamwezi. These two tribes, whose distinctness is established by 
difference of dialect, will be described in order. 

" The Wagogo display the variety of complexion usually 
seen among slave-purchasing races : many of them are fair as 
Abyssinians ; some are black as negroes. In the eastern and 
northern settlements they are a line, stout, and light-com- 
plexion ed race. Their main peculiarity is the smallness of the 



BURTON AND SPEKE. 249 

cranium compared with the broad circumference of the face at 
and below the zygomata : seen from behind, the appearance is 
that of a small half bowl fitted upon one of considerably 
larger bias; and this, with the widely extended ears, gives a re- 
markable expression to the face. Nowhere in Eastern Africa 
is the lobe so distended. Pieces of cane an inch or two in 
length, and nearly double the girtli of a man's finger, are so 
disposed that they appear like handles to the owner's head. 
The distinctive mark of the tribe is the absence of the two 
lower incisors ; but they are more generally recognized by the 
unnatural enlarsrement of their ears. In Eastern Africa the 
* aures perf oratse' are the signs not of slavery, but of freedom. 
There is no regular tattoo, though some of the women have two 
parallel lines running from below the bosom down the abdo- 
men, and the men often extract only a single lower incisor. 
The hair is sometimes shaved clean, at others grown in mop- 
shape ; more generally it is dressed in a mass of tresses, as 
among the Egyptians, and the skin, as well as the large bunch 
of corkscrews, freely stained with ochre and micaceous earths. 

" The strength of the Y7"agogo lies in their comparative 
numbers. As the people seldom travel to the coast, their 
scattered villages are full of fighting men. Moreover, uchawi, 
or black magic, here numbers few believers, consequently those 
drones of the social hive, the waganga, or medicine-men, are 
not numerous. The Wagogo seldom sell their children and 
relations, yet there is no order against the practice. They bar- 
ter for slaves their salt and ivory, the principal produce of the 
countr}^ 

" The Wagogo are celebrated as thieves who will, like the 
Waliehe, rob even during the day. They are importunate beg- 
gars, who specify their long list of wants without stint or 
shame : their principal demand is tobacco, which does not 
grow in the land ; and they resemble the Somal, who never 
si^-ht* a strani]:er without stretchinfr out the hand for ' bori.' 
The men are idle and debauched, spending their days in un- 
broken crapulence and drunkenness, while the girls and women 
hoe the fields, and the boys tend the flocks and herds. They 
mix honey with their pombe, or beer, and each man provides 
entertainment for his neighbors in turn. After mid-day it 
would be difticult throughout the country to find a chief with- 
out the thick voice, fiery eyes, and moidered manners, which 
prove that he is cither drinking or drunk. 

" The Wahumba are a fair and comely race, with the appear- 
ance of mountaineers, long-legged and lightly made. They 



250 BURTON AND SPEKE. 

have repeatedly ravaged the lands of Usagara and Hgogo ; in 
the latter country, near Usek'he, there are several settlements 
of this people, who have exchanged the hide-tent for the hut, 
and the skin for the cotton clotli. They stain their garments 
with ochrish earth, and their women are distinguished by wear- 
ing kitindi of full and half size above and below the elbows. 
The eai'-lobes are pierced and distended by both sexes, as 
among the Wagogo. In their own land they are purely pas- 
toral ; they grow no grain, despise vegetable food, and subsist 
entirely upon meat or milk according to the season. Their 
habitations are hemispheres of boughs lashed together and 
roofed with a cow's hide ; it is the primitive dwelling-place, 
and the legs of the occupant protrude beyond the slieltei-. 
Their arms, which are ever hung up close at hand, are broad- 
headed spears of soft iron, long ' sine,' or double-edged dag- 
gers, with ribbed wooden handles fastened to the blade by a 
strip of cow's tail shrunk on, and ' rungu,' or wooden knob- 
kerries, with double bulges that weight the weapon as it whirls 
through the air. They ignore and apparently despise the bow 
and arrows, but in battle they carry the pavoise, or large hide- 
shield, affected by the Kafirs [Kaffres] of the Cape." 

Tura, the point which the expedition had now reached, was 
actually within the boundaries of Unyamwezi, the " Land of the 
Moon. Before entering tlie country, they were warned by an 
Arab merchant that the natives were dangerous, and it was sug- 
gested that their escort was not strong enough. But the intrepid 
explorers were not to be daunted ; nor does it appear that there 
was any special ground for alarm, as they suffered no further 
interruption than a little pillage, against which they were 
never secure at any part of their journey. They had been out 
134 days and had marched nearly 600 miles when, on November 
7th, they arrived at Kazeh, the great centre of commerce of 
Eastern Unyamwezi, and the emporium of the Omani merchants. 
The scene of their entrance into Tura Nullah was here repeated, 
but on a grander scale ; for Kazeh was a city compared with 
the settlements through which they had hitherto passed. It is 
the custom for a caravan when it comes within a certain dis- 
tance of one of these settlements, to prepare for producing an 
impression. The whole company is collected together, and, 
putting on their tinery, they make a display of their resources. 
On this occasion the caravan had been marching from a very 
early hour. It was eight o'clock in the morning when they 
halted to put themselves in readiness ; and preliminaries being 
over, the whole body began to move in a snake-like line over 



BURTON AND SPEKE. 251 

the plain, with flags flying, horns blowing, muskets firing, and, 
to augment the uproar, every one shouting at the top of his 
voice. As they approached the town they were received with 
genuine African welcome. " The road was lined with people," 
says Barton, '' and they attempted to vie with us in volume 
and variety of sound ; all had donned their best attire, and with 
such luxury my eyes had long been unfamiliar. Advancing, I 
saw several Arabs standing by the wayside ; they gave the 
Moslem salutation, and courteously accompanied us for some 
distance." The travellers having been allowed a clear day of 
rest, and time for dismissing their porters, the principal Arab 
merchants paid a visit on the following morning. This was 
not in the way of mere ceremony, but was a matter of kind- 
ness and true hospitality : 

" Nothing could be more encouraging than the reception ex- 
perienced from the Omani Arabs. Striking indeed was the 
contrast between the open-handed hospitality and the hearty 
good-will of this truly noble race, and the niggardliness and 
selfishness of the Africans — it was the heart of flesh, after the 
heart of stone. A goat and a load of the fine white rice grown 
in the country were the normal prelude to a visit, and to ofi:*ers 
of service which proved something more than a mere vox et 
prcBterea nihil. Whatever I alluded to — onions, plantains, 
limes, vegetj^bles, tamarind cakes, coft'ee from Karagwah, and 
similar articles, only to be found amongst the Arabs — were sent 
at once, and the very name of payment would have been an 
insult." 

Kazeh, in the plain of Unyanyembe, the central and principal 
province of the Land of the Moon, offers singular advantages 
for the purposes which drew together its residents. The plain, 
which is 3,480 feet above the level of the sea, has open com- 
munications to the north, south, and west by well-traversed di- 
verging lines ; and its favorable position as a safe centre for 
commercial operations has gradually made it the head-quarters 
of the Omani, or pure Arabs, who not only form establishments 
here, but in many instances remain personally in charge of their 
depots, w^hile their factors and slaves travel about tlie counti*y 
execiitinsr their commissions. There are several villages and 
settlements in the plain, but they are usually small. There are 
clusters of native hovels, here and there, each bearing the name 
of its chief : there is a little colon}^ of Arab merchants, called 
Moreti, consisting of four large houses ; and in the midst there 
is the settlement of Kazeh, which is a scattered collection of six 
largo hollow oblongs, with central courts, garden-plots, store- 



252 BURTON AND SPEKE. 

rooms, and outlioiises for the slaves. The Arabs who frequent 
tlie place are visitors — not colonists. They, therefore, do not 
increase in number or gather strength. They live comfortably, 
and their mode of life has even au air of splendor when com- 
pared with the squalor by which they are surrounded. Their 
houses, though single-storied, are large, substantial, and capable 
of defence. Their gardens are extensive and well-cultivated. 
They receive regular supplies of merchandise, comforts, and 
luxuries from the coast. They are surrounded by concubines 
and slaves, wliom they train to divers crafts and callings. Rich 
men have riding-asses from Zanzibar, and even the poorest 
keep flocks and herds. Their houses have deep and shady 
verandas, where tJiere is a broad bench of raised earth-work, 
which the men use for the enjoyment of the coolness of the 
morning, and the serenity of the evening — where also they 
pray, converse, and transact business. A portcullis lets down, 
composed of two massive planks, with chains as thick as the 
cable of a ship — a precaution rendered necessary by the pres- 
ence of wild slaves : this leads into the carzah^ or vestibule. 
The only furniture is a pair of clay benches, extending along 
the right and left sides, with ornamental terminations. When 
visitors are expected, rich mats and rugs are spread over them. 
The rooms have neither doors nor windows, and are lighted by 
bulls'-eyes, which serve as loopholes in case of need. There 
are separate apartments for the harem ; and the glaves live iu 
outhouses. 

From the 8th of !N^ovember to the 14th of December, the 
party were delayed at Kazeh by illness and difficulties with 
their attendants. Resuming their journey, they were charmed 
by the character of the country through which they passed. 
" At the sunset hour the ' Land or the Moon ' is replete with en- 
joyment. At this time all is life. The vulture soars with 
silent flight high in the blue expanse ; the small birds preen 
themselves for the night, and sing their evening hymns ; the 
cattle and flocks frisk and gambol ; and the people busy them- 
selves with simple pleasures that end the day." 

In a fortnight the travellers arrived at Mesne, the commer- 
cial centre of Western Unyamwezi, and the capital of the coast 
Arabs, as Unyanyembe is of the Omani. It is a rather more 
important place than Kazeh and its surrounding hovels, and 
has an African bazaar, an open space between the houses, 
where bullocks are slauo^htered dailv, and a vegetable market. 
There is also a small amount of industry at Mesne, which con- 
sists of the manufacture of cloths, coarse mats, clay pipe-heads, 



BURTON AND SPEKE. 253 

and ironmongery. But the morals of the people are very low, 
and at the end of twelve days the Englishmen were thankful to 
escape to the open country. They were delayed several days 
at Solola in order to replenish certain of their supplies. At this 
place, in consequence of the mutinous and disorderly conduct 
of the retinue, some of whom had entered into a conspiracy to 
prevent the expedition from embarking on the " Sea of Ujiji," 
to ascertain the limits of w^iich was one of the main objects 
contemplated, the slaves who had been hired for six months 
were dismissed as a measure of precaution, and the expedition 
i-esumed its march without them on the 16th of January, 1858. 
At Kajjanjeri, another pestilential spot, Capt. Burton, who 
had been previously ill, was struck down by an attack of palsy 
and muscular contraction, which lasted for ten days and which 
left its traces on him for a year. Not long afterwards, Captain 
Speke, whose strength had been greatly reduced by fever, was 
assailed by inflammatory ophthalmia. The record of these ex- 
plorations bear many indications of personal suffering. But 
there w^as no help for it bnt to push on, well or ill. Beaching 
the banks of the Malagarazi river, at Ugaga, they were exposed 
to fresh extortions both on the part of the chief and of the 
feri'ymen. But, having crossed the river, they entered the fifth 
and last region through which their journey was to lead them to 
Tanganyika Lake, or, as it is otherwise called, the Sea of Ujiji. 
Burton regards the Malagarazi River as the western boundary 
of Unyamwezi, though the nominal frontier had been crossed 
some days ba(;k. The name of Unyamwezi was first mentioned 
by the Portuguese navigators nearly three hundred years ago ; 
and there can be little doubt that Ptolemy's " Mountains of the 
Moon " referred to the range which bounds this central table- 
land on the east, and the higliest peaks of which are Kenia and 
Kiliinandjaro. In Burton's description of the country he 
says: "llie fourth division is a hilly table-land, extending 
from the western skirts of the desert Mgunda Mk'hali, in E. 
long. 33° 57', to the eastern banks of the Malagarazi Biver, 
in E. long. 31° 10'; it thus stretches diagonally over 155 
rectilinear geogra])hical miles. Bounded on the north by Usui 
and the Nyanza Lake, to the south-eastward by Ugala, south- 
ward by Ukimbu; and south-westward by Uwende, it has a 
le])th of f r(.)m twenty-five to thirty marches. Native caravans, 
if lightly laden, can accomplish it in twenty-five days, includ- 
ing four halts. The maximum altitude observed was 4,050 
feet, the minimum 2,850. This region contains the two great 
divisions of Unyamwezi and Uvinza." 



254: BURTON AND SPEKE. 

There is the evidence of barbarous tradition for a belief in 
the existence of Unjamwezi as a great empire nnited under a 
single despot. The elders declare that their patriarchal ances- 
tor became after death the first tree, and afforded shade to his 
children and descendents. According to the Arabs, the peo- 
ple still perform pilgrimage to a holy tree, and believe that the 
penalty of sacrilege in cutting off a twig would be visited by 
sudden and mysterious death. All agree in relating that dur- 
ing the olden time Unyamwezi was united under a single sov- 
ereign, whose tribe was the Wakalaganza, still inhabiting the 
western district, Usagozi. According to the people, whose 
greatest chronological measure is a masiJca, or rainy season, in 
the days of the grandfathers of their grandfathers, the last of the 
Wanyamwezi etnperors died. Ilis children and nobles divided 
and dismembered his dominions, further partitions ensued, and 
finally the old empire fell into the hands of a rabble of petty 
chiefs. Their wild computation would point to an epoch of 
150 years ago — a date by no means improbable. 

" The Land of the Moon, which is the garden of Central In- 
ter-tropical Africa, presents an aspect of peaceful rural beauty 
which soothes the eye like a medicine after the red glare of 
barren Ugogo, and the dark, monotonous verdure of the western 
provinces. The inhabitants are comparatively numerous in the 
villages, which rise at short intervals above their impervious 
walls of the lustrous green milk-bush, with its coral-shaped 
arms, variegating the well-hoed plains ; while in the pasture- 
lands frequent herds of many-colored cattle, plnmp, round- 
barrelled, and high-humped, like the Indian breeds, and 
mingled flocks of goats and sheep dispersed over the landscape, 
suggest ideas of barbarous comfort and plenty. There are few 
scenes more soft and soothing than a view of Unyamwezi in 
the balmy evenings of spring. As the large yellov/ sun nears 
the horizon, a deep stillness falls upon earth : even the 
zephyr seems to lose the power of rustling the liglitest leaf. 
The charm of the hour seems to affect even the unimaginative 
Africans, as they sit in the central spaces of their villages, or, 
stretched under the forest-trees, gaze upon the glories around. 

" The rainy monsoon is here ushered in, accompanied and 
terminated by storms of thunder and lightning, and occasional 
hail-falls. The blinding flashes of white, yellow, or rose-color 
play over the firmament uninterruptedly for hours, daring which 
no darkness is visible. In the lighter storms thirty and thirty- 
five flashes may be counted in a minute : so vivid is the glare 
that it discloses the finest shades of color, and appears followed 



BURTON AND SPEKK 255 

by a thick and palpable gloom, siich as would hang before a 
blind man's eyes, wliile a deafening roar, simultaneously fol- 
lowing the flash, seems to travel, as it were, to and fro over- 
head. Several claps sometimes sound almost at the same mo- 
ment, and as if coming from different directions. The same 
storm will, after the most violent of its discharges, pass over, 
and be immediately followed by a second, showing the super- 
abundance of electricity in the atmospliere. 

"Travellers from Unyamwezi homeward returned of ten rep- 
resent that country to be the healthiest in Eastern and Central 
Africa : they quote, as a proof, the keenness of their appetites, 
and the quantity of food which they consume. The older resi- 
dents, however, modify their opinions : they declare that diges- 
tion does not wait upon appetite ; and that, as in Egypt, Maz- 
anderan, Malabar, and other hot-damp countries, no man long 
retains rnde health. The sequels of their maladies are always 
severe ; few cax'e to use remedies, deeming them inefficacious 
ajzainst morbific influences to them unknown : convalescence 
is protracted, painful, and uncertain, and at length they are 
compelled to lead the lives of confirmed invalids. The gifts of 
the climate, lassitude and indolence, according to them, predis- 
pose to corpulence; and the regular warmth induces baldness, 
and thins the beard, thus assimilating strangers in body as iu 
mind to the aborigines." 

'• The races requiring notice in this region are two, the Wa- 
kimbu and the Wanyamwczi. 

" The Wakimbu, who are emigrants into Unyamwezi, claim a 
noble origin, and derive themselves from the broad lands run- 
ning south of Unyanyembe as far westward as K'hokoro. 
About twenty masika, wet monsoons, or years ago, according to 
themselves, they left Nguru, Usanga, and Usenga, in conse- 
quence of the repeated attacks of the AYarori, and migrated to 
Kipiri, the district lying south of Tura; they have now ex- 
tended into Ngunda Miv'hali and Unyanyembe, where they 
hold the land by permission of the Wanyamwezi. In these 
regions there are few obstacles to immigrants. They visit the 
sultan, make a small present, obtain permission to settle, and 
name the village after their own chief; but the original pro- 
prietors still maintain their rights to the soil. The Wakimbu 
build firmlv stockaded villajxes, tend cattle, and cultivate sor- 
ghum and maize, millet and pulse, cucumbers and water- 
melons. Apparently they are poor, being generally clad in 
skins. They barter slaves and ivory in small quantities to the 
mei'chants, and some travel to the coast. They are considered 



256 BUBTON AND SPEKE. 

treacherous by their neighbors, and Mapokera, the sultan of 
Tiira, is, according to the Arabs, prone to commit ' avanies? 
Thej are known by a number of small lines formed by raising 
the skin with a needle, and opening it by points laterally be- 
tween the hair of the temples and the eyebrows. In appear- 
ance they are dark and uncomely : their arras are bows and 
arrows, spears, and knives stuck in the leathern Avaist-belt ; 
some wear necklaces of curiously plaited straw, others a strip 
of white cowskin bound around the brow — a truly savage and 
African decoration. Their language differs from Kinyam- 
wezi. 

" The Wanyamwezi tribe, the proprietors of the soil, is. the 
typical race in this portion of Central Africa : its compara- 
tive industry and commercial activity have secured to it a 
superiority over the other kindred races. The aspect of the 
Wanyamwezi is alone sufficient to disprove the existence of 
very elevated lands in this part of the African interior. They 
are usually of a dark sepia-brown, rarely colored like diluted 
Indian-ink, as are the Wahiao and slave races to the south, 
with negroid features markedly less Semitic than the people 
of the eastern coast. The efHuvium from their skins, especially 
after exercise or excitement, marks tlieir connection with the 
negro. The hair curls crisply, but it grows to the length of 
four or five inches before it splits ; it is usually tw^isted into 
many little ringlets or hanks ; it hangs down like a fringe to 
the neck, and is combed off the forehead after the manner of 
the ancient Egyptians and the modern Hottentots. 

" There are but few ceremonies among the Wanyamwezi. 
A woman about to become a mother retires from the hut to 
the jungle, and after a few hours returns with a child wrapped 
in goat-skin upon her back, and probably carrying a load of 
firewood on her head. The medical treatment of the Arabs 
with salt and various astringents for forty days is here un- 
known. Twins are not common, as among the Kafir race, and 
one of the two is invariably put to death. The universal cus- 
tom among these tribes is for the mother to wrap a gourd or 
calabash in skins, to place it to sleep with and to feed it like 
the survivor. If the wife die without issue, the widower 
claims from her parents the sum paid to them upon marriage ; 
if she leave a child, the property is preserved for it. When 
the father can affoixl it, a birth is celebrated by copious liba- 
tions of pombe. Children are suckled till the end of the sec- 
ond year. Their only education is in the use of the bow and 
arrow ; after the fourth summer the boy begins to learn 



BURTON AND SPEKE. 257 

archery with diminutive weapons, which are gradually increased 
in strength. Kames are given without ceremony, and, as in 
the countries to the eastward, many of the heathens have been 
called after their Arab visitors. Circumcision is not practised 
by this people. The children in Unyamwezi generally are the 
property, not of the uncle, but of the father, who can sell or 
slay them without blame ; in Usukuma, or the northern lands, 
however, succession and inheritance are claimed by the 
nephews or sisters' sons. The Wanyamwezi have adopted the 
curious practice of leaving property to their illegitimate chil- 
dren by slave-girls or concubines, to the exclusion of their 
issue by wives ; they justify it by the fact of the former re- 
quiring their assistance more than the latter, w^ho have friends 
and relatives to aid them. As soon as the boy can walk he 
tends the flocks ; after the age of ten he drives the cattle to 

Easture, and, considering himself independent of his father, 
e plants a tobacco-plot, and aspires to build a hut for himself. 
There is not a boy ' which cannot earn his own meat.' 

" Another peculiarity of the Wanyamwezi is the position of 
the wahara, or unmarried girls. Until puberty they live in the 
father's house ; after that period the spinsters of the village, 
who usually number from seven to a dozen, assemble together 
and build for themselves, at a distance from their homes, a hut 
where they can receive their friends without parental inter- 
ference. There is but one limit to community in single life ; 
if the mhara, or ^ maiden,' be likely to become a mother, her 
* young man ' must marry her, under pain of mulct ; and if 
she die in childbirth, her father demands from her lover a large 
fine for having taken away his daughter's life. Marriage 
takes place when the youth can afford to pay the price for a 
wife ; it varies, according to circumstances, from one to ten 
cows. 

" The habitations of the Eastern "Wanyamwezi are the temhe, 
which in the west give way to the circular African hut ; 
among the poorer sub-tribes the dwelling is a mere stack of 
straw. The best tembe have large projecting eaves supported 
by uprights; cleanliness, however, can never be expected in 
them. Having no limestone, the people ornament the inner 
and outer walls with long lines of ovals formed by pressure of 
the finger-tips, after dipping them in ashes and water for 
whitewash, and into red clay or black mud for variety of color. 
With this primitive material they sometimes attempt rude imi- 
tations of nature — human beings and serpents. In some parts 
the cross appears, but the people apparently ignore it as a sym- 
17 



258 BURTON AND 8PEKE, 

bol. Rude carving is also attempted upon the massive posts 
at the entrance of villages, but the figures, though to appear- 
ance idolatrous, are never worshipped." 

The Wanyamwezi have won for themselves a reputation by 
their commercial industry. Encouraged by the merchants, 
they are the only professional porters of East Africa ; and 
even among them the "Waklaganza, Wasumbwa, and Wasuku- 
ma, are the only tribes who regularly visit the coast in this 
capacity. They are now no longer " honest and civil to 
strangers ; " semi-civilization has hitherto tended to degrada- 
tion. They seem to have learned but little by their intercourse 
with the Arabs. Commerce with them is still iii its infancy. 
The}^ have no idea of credit, although in Karagwah and the 
northern kingdoms payment may be delayed for a period of 
two years. They cannot, like some of their neighbors, bar- 
gain : a man names the article which he requires, and if it be 
not forthcoming, he will take no other. 

The march from the Malagarazi River to the Lake was the 
worst of all. It led them through a wilderness of jungle, 
swamps, rocky ravines swept by torrents, and over rugged hills. 
But, with careful management of their own resources, and oc- 
casional help from passing caravans, they at last came in sight 
of the sea, which had been the object of all their toils. Bur- 
ton says : 

" On the 13th of February we resumed our travels through 
screens of lofty grass, which thinned out into a straggling for- 
est. After about an hour's march, as we entered a small 
savannah, I saw the fundi running forward and changing the 
direction of the caravan. Without supposing that he had 
taken upon himself this responsibility, I followed him. Pres- 
<ently he breasted a steep and stony hill, sparsely clad with 
.thorny trees. Arrived with toil, for our fagged beasts now 
sref used to proceed, we halted for a few minutes upon the sum- 
mit. * What is that streak of light which lies below?' I 
inquired of Seedy Bombay. * I am of opinion,' quoth Bom- 
bay, * that that is the water.' I gazed in dismay ; the remains 
of my blindness, the veil of trees, and a broad ray of sunshine 
illuminating but one reach of the lake bend, shrunk its fair 
proportions. Somewhat prematurely, I began to lament my 
folly in having risked life and lost breath for so poor a prize, 
to curse Arab exaggeration, and to propose an immediate 
return, with the view of exploring Nyanza, a northern lake. 
Advancing, however, a few yards, the whole scene burst upon 
my view, filling me with admiration, wonder, and delight." 



BURTON AND SPEEE. 259 

"lS"otliing," he adds, "could be more picturesque than this first 
view of the Tanganyika Lake, as it lay in the lap of the moun- 
tains, basking in the gorgeous tropical sunshine. Below and 
beyond a short foreground of rugged and precipitous hill-fold, 
down which the footpath zigzags painfully, a narrow strip of 
emerald green, never sere, and marvellously fertile, shelves 
toward a ribbon of glistening yellow sand, here bordered by 
sedgy rushes, there cleanly and clearly cut by the breaking 
wavelets. Farther in front stretch the waters — an expanse of 
the lightest and softest blue — in breadth vaiying from thirty 
to thirty-five miles, and sprinkled by the crisp east wind with 
tiny crescents of snowy foam. The background in front is a 
high and broken wall of steel-colored mountain, here flecked 
and capped with pearly mist, there standing sharply pencilled 
against the azure air ; its yawning chasms, marked by a deeper 
plum-color, fall toward dwarf hills of mound-like proportions, 
w^hich apparently dip their feet in the wave. To the south, 
and opposite the long low point behind which the Malagarazi 
River discharges the red loam suspended in its violent stream, 
lie the bluff headlands and capes of Uguhha, and, as the eye 
dilates, it falls upon a cluster of outlying islets speckling a sea- 
horizon. Villages, cultivated lands, the frequent canoes of the 
fishermen on the waters, and, on a nearer approach, the mur- 
murs of the waves breaking upon the shore, give a something 
of variety, of movement, of life to the landscape, which, like 
all the fairest prospects in these regions, wants but a little of 
the neatness and finish of art — mosques and kiosks, palaces 
and villas, gardens and orchards — contrasting with the profuse 
lavishness and magnificence of nature, and diversifying the 
unbroken coup d'ceil of excessive vegetation, to rival, if not to 
excel, the most admired scenery of the classic regions, the riant 
shores of this vast crevasse appeared doubl}'^ beautiful to me 
after the silent and spectral mangrove-creeks on the East Afri- 
can sea-board, and the melancholy, monotonous experience of 
desert and jungle scenery, tawny rock and sun-parched plain, 
or rank herbage and flats of black mire. Truly it was a revel 
for soul and sight." 

The fundi alluded to in the passage above quoted was tlie 
steward, or laito7\ of an Arab who had a residence at Uka- 
ranga, the spot on the border of the lake to which, for his own 
purposes, he had directed the route of the caravan. His sub- 
sequent attempts at imposition were frustrated by the prompti 
tude of the travellers, who proceeded at once to Kawele, 
which may be considered as the port of Ujiji — a small ragged 



260 BURTON AND SPEKE, 

place, a little to the north of Ukaranga. Here they sat down 
to contemplate the object of the expedition, and the means by 
which it could be accomplished. The lake or sea was before 
them. Lodged in a tolerably cool and comfortable house, or 
hut, their first care was to put it into condition for a leugthy 
residence, by fumigating the floors and walls and preparing 
the roof against the rainy season ; and the next step was to 
procure some proper description of craft for navigating the 
lake. In the former they succeeded moderately ; but in the 
latter they altogether failed. They had heard of a river 
which had its source in the lake, issuing from it towards the 
north. One Arab declared that he had seen the place, and 
that, although he had been attacked by many canoes, he had 
gone far enough to feel the influence of the river draining the 
lake : and another affirmed that he also had seen the stream. 
Standing on the margin of the water, the adventurers gazed 
with longing eyes in the direction of the supposed river, and 
only wanted a vessel to convey them thither; but that they 
could not obtain. The case was apparently hopeless on ac- 
count of the extortions attempted, and the diffi(;ulties put in 
the way by the coast people. It was also reported that the war- 
like tribes living to the north would not permit any strangers 
to pass beyond a certain limit even for the purposes of 
trading. But the travellers would not be discouraged, and re- 
solved to persevere. Since, therefore, they could find no vessel 
at Kawele, Captain Speke went in a canoe, with a crew of 
twenty men, to Ukaa'anga, for the purpose of hiring a dhow 
from the Arab merchant there, he being the owner of the only 
sailing craft on the lake large enough for the purposes of the 
expedition. Twenty-seven days elapsed before he returned. 
Meanwhile Burton had a weary time of it, watching the day- 
light come and go, and literally nnable to do anything. II is 
chief hardship appears to have been the difficulty he experi- 
enced in procuring game and butcher's meat; but as he had 
an ample supply of fish of various kinds, and abundance of 
poultry and vegetables, his was not a case of despair. Cap- 
tain Speke at last returned, but without the dhow. The Arab 
had detained him from day to day by means of frivolous ex- 
cuses, and finally promised to let him have it at the end of 
three months. 

At length an arrangement was made with the head man at 
Kawele, for an exorbitant sum, to provide two canoes, the one 
sixty feet by four, and the other about two- thirds of that size ; 
and in these utterly inadequate boats the expedition essayed to 



BUMTON AND 8PEKE. 201 

navigate tlie waters of Lake Tanganyika. Most readers are 
aware that the African canoe is simply a scooped tree. In 
such a climate it cracks, and, for want of caulking, becomes 
so extremely leaky that the process of baling is uninterrupted ; 
the crew regularly taking it in turn. There are neithei* masts 
nor sails ; an iron ring in the stern serves for a rudder, but the 
steering is really done by the paddle. There are no oars, and 
the paddle which is substituted for the oar is the perfection of 
clumsiness. The crew sit on narrow benches, two together in 
a space hardly large enough for one. There is a clear space 
in the centre, about six feet long, and there are stored cargo, 
passengers, cattle, slaves, and provisions. There also the bal- 
ing is performed ; and the splashing being perpetual, the boat 
is always wet. Captain Burton says: "We expended upwards 
of a month — from the lOtli April to the 13th May, 1858 — iu 
this voyage, fifteen days outwara bound, nine at Uvira, and 
nine in returnincr. The boatino: was rather a severe trial. We 
had no means of resting the back; the liolds of the canoes, 
besides being knee-deep in water, were disgracefully crowded ; 
they had been appropriated to us and our four servants by 
Kannena, but by degrees he introduced, in addition to the 
stores, spars, broken vases, pots and gourds, a goat, two or 
three small boys, one or two sick sailors, the little slave girl, 
and the large sheep. The canoes were top-heavy with the 
number of tiieir crew, and the shipping of many seas spoilt 
our tents, and, besides, wetted our salt and soddened our 
grain and flour; the gunpowder was damaged, and the guns 
were honeycombed with rust. Besides the splashi^ig of the 
paddles and the dashing of the waves, heavy shc^wers fell al- 
most every day and night, and the intervals were bursts of 
burning sunshine." 

In such craft these travellers attempted to navigate an in- 
land water which, upon careful investigation and comparison 
of statements made to them, they believed to be the recipient 
and absorbent of the entire river system — the whole network 
of streams, nullahs, and torrents of a very considerable por- 
tion of Central Africa. The obstinacy, superstition, and bar- 
barous usages of the boatmen added much to the annoyances 
coimected with this water exploration. From morning till 
night, the paddling was accompanied by a long, monotonous 
howl, which was responded to by yells and shouts, mixed with 
the bray and clang of horns, shaums, and tomtoms, blown and 
banged without a moment's cessation. It was simply impossi- 
ble in the midst of thi^ uproar to take observations, to estimate 



262 BURTON ANJO SPEKE. 

the rate of progress, or do anything in furtherance of the sci- 
entific purposes of the expedition. The boatmen did what 
they pleased ; they would stop at places for purposes of their 
own, bu>t never at the request of their employers ; and the 
captain had no command over them any more than the Eng- 
lishmen. From feelings of superstition they would not per- 
mit a question to be asked, nor a lead to be hove ; neither 
would they allow a vessel to be dipped for water in the lake, 
or offal to be thrown overboard, from their fear of crocodiles. 

On the 26th of April, the fifteenth day from Ujiji, they 
reached the most northerly station to wdiich merchants had yet 
been admitted, and which, according to the configuration of 
the lake, seems to be the termination of navigation itself. The 
place is called Uvira. When they came in sight of it the 
captains of the canoes performed a singular dance on the 
benches, pirouetting, leaping up and squatting down in solemn 
silence, while the crews all the while rattled their paddles 
against the sides of the boat — such being the usual form of sal- 
utation to the natives on shore, who, on their part, made deaf- 
ening noises of many kinds in token of welcome. The Sultan 
Maruta, the chief of the neighboring village, invited the 
strangers to his settlement, but they preferred remaining near 
their canoes, and, pitching their tents upon the sands, prepared 
for their last labor of exploring the head of the lake, and so 
completing the work of tlieir expedition. 

They received a visit from three stalwart sons of the Sultan, 
good specimens of the Negroid race to be seen near the lake, 
with symmetrical heads, regular features, and pleasing coun- 
tenances. Their well-made limbs and athletic frames of a 
shining jet black were covered by loose aprons of red and 
dark striped bark-cloth, with many rings of snowy ivory encir- 
cling their arms, together with conical ornaments of the tooth 
of tlje hippopotamus suspended from their necks. They all 
declared thai the mysterious river was well known to them, 
and offered to guide the travellers to it ; but asserted that the 
" Rusisi" enters into Lake Tanganyika, and does not flow out 
of it, a point which Stanley and Livingstone have since con- 
firmed. The guide of the expedition now admitted that he 
had never before been beyond the present place, and intimated 
that he did not intend to go. They were thus compelled to 
abandon their purpose. Similar difficulties prevented all at- 
tempt to lay down the northern limits of the lake. The cap- 
tains and boatmen refused point-blank to proceed, althougii 
they had been paid to perform the whole service, and the 



BURTON AND SPEEE. 2G3 

travellers were under the necessity of returning to the point 
from which they had originally started on their fruitless voy- 
age. " It is characteristic of African travel," observes Bur- 
ton, " that the explorer may be arrested at the very bourne of 
his journey, on the very threshold of success, by a single stage, 
as effectually as if all the waves of the Atlantic or the sands 
of Arabia lay between." 

The results of the voyage up and down the lake were, in 
these circumstances, unimportant. Captain Burton found that 
the shores were muddy and the scenery verdant; and tliat the 
inhospitable natives, though surrounded in profusion by all the 
luxuries of their climate, were sunk in the lowest forms of 
human debasement. The lake is 1,850 feet above the sea-level, 
and estimated to occupy a superficial area of ^wq hundred 
square miles, its total length being about two hundred and 
fifty, and its average breadth twenty miles. It has no aiSuents 
and its temperature undergoes but little change. All this, 
however, requires confirmation, especially on account of the 
variety of the sources from which the information has been 
drawn. 

Burton and his " companion " (as he calls Speke throughout 
his narrative) remained three and a half months at Ujiji ; and 
we may here quote Burton's account of the land and its inhabi- 
tants : 

"Ujiji — also called Manyofc^, which appears, however, 
peculiar to a certain sultanat, or district — is the name of a 
province, not, as has been represented, of a single town. It 
was first visited by the Arabs about 1840, ten yeai*s after they 
had penetrated to Unyamwezi ; they found it conveniently 
situated as a mart upon the Tanganyika Lake, and a central 
point where their depots might be established, and whence 
their factors and slaves could navigate the waters and collect 
slaves and ivory from the tribes upon its banks. Abundant 
liumidity and a fertile soil, evidenced by the large forest-trees 
and the profusion of ferns, render Ujiji the most productive 
province in this section of Africa : vegetables, which must 
elsewhere be cultivated, here seem to flourish almost sponta- 
neously. Bice of excellent quality was formerly raised by the 
Arabs upon the shores of the Tanganyika; it grew luxuriantly, 
attaining, it is said, the heiglit of eight or nine feet. The in- 
habitants, however, preferring sorghum, and wearied out by 
the depredations of the monkey, the elephant, and the hip- 
popotamus, have allowed the more civilized cereal to degen- 
erate. 



264 BURTON AND 8PEKE, 

" The bazaar at Ujiji is well supplied. Fresh fish of various 
kinds is always procurable, except during the violence of the 
rains : the people, however, invariably cut it up and clean it 
out before bringing it to market. Good honey abounds after 
the wet monsoon. By tlie favor of the chief, milk and batter 
may be purcliased Gvevy day. Long-tailed sheep and well-bred 
goats, poultry and G^gg^ — the two latter are never eaten by the 
people — are brought in from the adjoining countries ; the Arabs 
breed a few Manilla ducks, and the people rear, but will not 
sell, pigeons. 

" The Wajiji "^ are a burly race of barbarians, far stronger 
than the tribes hitherto traversed, with dark skins, plain fea- 
tures, and straight, sturdy limbs; they are larger and heavier 
men than the Wanyainwezi, and the type, as it approaches 
Central Africa, becomes rather negro than negroid. Th-eir 
feet and hands are large and flat, their voices are harsh and 
strident, and their looks as well as their manners are indepen- 
dent even to insolence. The women, who are held in high 
repute, resemble, and often excel, their masters in rudeness 
and violence ; they think little in their cups of entering a 
stranger's hut, and of snatching up and carrying away an 
article which excites their admiration. Many of botli sexes, 
and all ages, are disfigured by the small-pox — the Arabs have 
vainly taught them inoculation — and there are few who are 
not afflicted by boils and various eruptions. 

" The lakists are an almost amphibious race, excellent divers, 
strong swimmers and fishermen, and vigorous ichthyophagists 
alL At times, when excited by the morning coolness and by 
the prospect of a good haul, they indulge in a manner of merri- 
ment which resembles the gambols of sportive water-fowls : 
standing upright and balancing themselves in their hollow logs, 
which appear but little larger than themselves, they strike the 
water furiously with their paddles, skimming over the surface, 
dashing to and fro, splashing one another, urging forward, 
backing, and wheeling their craft, now capsizing, then regain- 
ing their position with wonderful dexterity. They make coarse 
hooks, and have many varieties of nets and creels. Conspic- 
uous on the waters and in the villages is the dewa, or ' otter ' 



* Captain Burton tliroug'liout his book uses the native words and prefixes in 
Bpeaking" of the land and people. CT, is the country; Ki^ is the language; 
TTa, is the people collectively ; and Jf, is an individual of the people. Thus : 
Ujiji, the country; Kijiji, the language; Wajiji^ the people; and Mjiji^ an 
individual. 



BURTON AND SPEKE. 265 

of Oman, a triangle of stout reeds, which shows the position of 
the net. A stronger kind, and used for the larger ground-fish, 
is a cage of open basket-work, provided like the former with a 
bait and two entrances. The fish once entangled cannot es- 
cape, and a log of wood used as a trimmer, attached to a float* 
roj)e of rnshy plants, directs tlie fisherman. 

"The Wajiji are considered bj the Arabs to be the naost 
ti-oublesome race in these black regions. They are tauglit by 
the example of their chiefs to be rude, insolent, and extortion- 
ate ; they demand beads even for pointing out the road ; they 
will deride and imitate a stranger's speech and manner before 
his face; they can do notliing without a long preliminary of 
the fiercest scolding; they are as ready with a blow as with a 
word ; and they may often been seen playing at ' rough and 
tumble,' fighting, pushing, and tearing hair, in their boats. A 
Mjiji uses his dagger or his spear upon a guest with little hesi- 
tation ; he thinks twice, however, before drawing blood, if it 
will cause a feud. Their roughness of manner is dashed with 
a curious ceremoniousness. When the sultan appears among 
his people, he stands in a circle and claps his hands, to which 
all respond in the same way. Women curtsey to one another, 
bending the right knee almost to the ground. When two men 
meet, they clasp each other's arms with both hands, rubbing 
them up and down, and ejaculating for some minutes, ' Nama 
sanga ? nama sanga?' — Art thou well? Tliey then ])ass the 
hands down to the forearm, exclaiming, ' Wahke ? wahke ? ' — 
IIow art thou ? — and finally they clap palms at each other, a 
token of respect which appears common to these tribes of Cen- 
tral Africa. The children have all the frowning and unpre- 
possessing look of their parents ; they reject little civilities, and 
seem to spend life in disputes, biting and clawing like wild- 
cats. There appears to be little family affection in this unde- 
monstrative race." 

As soon as a caravan with needful supplies arrived at the 
Lake, Burton set out on his return journey, and reached Kazeh 
in twenty-six days — from the 26tli of May to the 20th of June, 
1858. He computes the distance at 265 statute miles. Before 
])roceeding farther towards the coast it was determined by the 
explorers that an attempt should be made to ascertain some 
particulars concerning the countries lying north and south of 
the route traversed, and especially in regard to a great sea, or 
lake, which, according to the Arab authorities, was much 
larger than the Tanganyika, and which lay some fifteen or 
sixteen marches to the north. " I saw at once," says Burton, 



266 



BURTON AUB 8PEKE. 



" that the existence of this hitherto unknown basin would ex- 
plain many discrepancies promulgated by speculative geogra- 
phers, more especially the notable and deceptive differences of 
distance caused by the confusion of the two waters." Captain 
Burton's strength had been so much reduced by fever that he 
was not equal to this enterprise, and he remained therefore at 
Kazeh while Speke proceeded on the journey. The latter left 
Kazeh on the 10th of July, reached the lake (which he named 
the Yictoria Nyanza) on the 30th of the same month, and re- 
turned on the 25th of August. The discovery was of vast im- 
portance, and Speke always believed that he had at last set 
eyes upon the source of the Nile ; but particulars concerning 
it are reserved for the next chapter. 

On the 26th of September the caravan was once more en 
route ^ for the Zanzibar coast, where, after the usual delays, 
privations, siclmess, squabbles with the porters, and dickering 
with the local chiefs, they arrived on the 9th of February, 
1859. ^ ^' 




CHAPTER XIII. 

SPEKE AND GRANT. 

Captain Speke was tlie second sou of Mr. Speke of Jor- 
deeus, Somerset, England. He was born in 1827, and in his 
seventeenth year entered the Indian army. Excelling in all 
manly sports, a botanist, a geologist, and a natural historian, 
he possessed also in an eminent degree all the qualities of a 
good soldier. He was hardy, temperate, and enduring, patient 
of fatigue, a good swordsman, a good shot, and a capital horse- 
man. Under General Gough ' he made the campaign in the 
Punjaub, and had his share in the victories of Ramnugger, Sad- 
oslapore, Chillian wallah, and Guzorat, acting with Sir Colin 
Campbell. His good services on all occasions secured him 
leave of absence when the war was over. He used his oppor- 
tunities, thus afforded, in exploring expeditions over the Hima- 
layas and the untrodden wastes of Thibet. 

He had formed the idea of exploring Equatorial Africa as 
early as 1849. His only object at iirst was to complete a mu- 
seum of natural history which he had formed at his father's 
house, principally from specimens which he had collected in 
the Himalayas and in Thibet. He was obliged to wait for 
the three years' furlough, granted to Indian officers after ten 
years' service, before he would be able to carry his plan into ex- 
ecution ; and then he proposed landing on the east coast of 
Africa, and to proceed across the Afj'ican continent, by the 
Mountains of the Moon, in some point of which chain he ex- 
pected tolind the Nile rising in perpetual snows, as the Ganges 
rises in the high region of the Himalayas. On the very day, 
therefore, of the expiration of his ten years, he sailed for Aden. 
At this time fn expedition was being organized for the explor- 
ation of Somali Land, mider Captain Jjurton. This country 
forms a sort of elbow, lying between the equator and the 
eleventh degree of north latitude, and might be called tlio 
eastern horn of Africa. Speke, having agreed to join the ex- 
pedition, left Aden on the 18th of October, 1854. lie and his 
companions. Burton and Heme, passed over a considerable ex- 
tent of country, but were unable to accomplisli much on ac^ 



268 . 8PEKE AND GRANT. 

count of the savage character of the population. Their princi- 
pal contribution to the increase of information was in the di- 
rection of natural history. They narrowly escaped with their 
lives ; for although the people, from the character of their 
country, are generally nomadic and pastoral, they are warlike 
and bloodthirsty. Speke especially, escaped almost by miracle. 
He says, " I lost in this unfortunate expedition, which failed 
from inexperience, about £510 worth of my own private prop- 
erty, and had nothing to show for it but eleven artificial holes 
in my body, inflicted by the spears of the natives." When he 
arrived at Aden, he was a miserable-looking cripple ; but dur- 
ing his residence there of three weeks, in which every attention 
was paid him by his friends, his wounds healed so rapidly that 
he was able to walk about before he left. He arrived in Eng- 
land in June, 1855, and though suffering from partial blind- 
ness, as the Crimean war was then at its height he could not 
resist the call to active service. He obtained an appointment 
as captain in a regiment of Turks, with whom he served till 
the close of the war. 

As soon as the war was over, finding himself without occu- 
pation. Captain Speke was planning an excursion to the Cau- 
casus, when he was again invited to join Captain Burton in ex- 
ploring Africa. This decided him to give up his Caucasus 
scheme, and to take the first mail for England. Arrived in 
London, he was introduced to the Royal Geographical Socic^ty, 
and made acquainted with the special objects of the projected 
exploration. On the walls of the Society's room hung a large 
map of a section of Eastern Africa, about half of which was 
occupied by an immense lake, which it was to be the business 
of the expedition to find. Speke agreed most willingly ; and 
in 1856, started with Burton on the expedition whose results 
are recorded in the preceding chapter. 

As mentioned in that chapter, Speke was convinced that in 
the Victoria Nyanza he had discovered the long-sought source 
of the ISTilc; and on his return to England, in 1859, he immedi- 
ately laid his views before the Royal Geographical Society, and 
proposed to undertake a new expedition, for th*e purpose of 
making a complete exploration of the Victoria ITyanza and of 
the adjacent countries. Sir Roderick Murchison, President of 
the Society, warmly espoused his cause, and the Society after 
hesitating for months made him a grant of £2,500. In addi- 
tion to this sum, the Indian Government supplied fifty carbines 
with ammunition, all the surveying instruments, and several 
gold watches as presents for the native chiefs. At Speke's 



8PEKE AND GRANT, 2G9 

request, Captain Grant, also of the Indian army, was detailed 
to ac;compaiiy him. 

Leaving England on the 27th of April, 1860, Speke and 
Grant reached the Cape of Good Hope on the 4th of July. Sir 
George Grey was Governor at the time, and he induced the 
Cape Parliament to advance to the expedition the sinn of £300, 
for the purpose of buying luggage-mules : ten volunteers from 
the Cape Mounted Rifles, moreover, being detached to ac- 
company them. They started for Zanzibar on the IGth of July ; 
in five days they reached East London ; and proceeding north- 
wards, made Delagoa Bay, at which place Captain Speke first 
be(;ame acquainted with the Zulu Kaffres, a race of naked 
Xegroes. Zanzibar was reached on August 17th, and Captain 
Speke was courteously received by the sultan, who promised to 
further the plans of the expedition. 

Less time than might have been expected was consumed in 
making the necessary preparations, and by the 21st of Sep- 
tember, n)en, mules, baggage, and supplies had been sent across 
to Bagamoyo on the mainland. On October 2d the march in- 
land began. S]>eke's caravan numbered nearly 200 persons, in- 
cluding the faithful Bombay, who had served with Burton in 
the previous expedition ; 25 Baloch soldiers ; and about 100 
negro porters? " Starting on the march with a large mixed 
caravan," says Speke, " one could hardly expect to find every- 
b(;dy in his place at the proper time for breaking ground ; but, 
at the same time, it could hardly be expected that ten men, wlio 
had actually received their bounty-money, and had sworn fidel- 
ity, should give one the slip the very first day. Such, however, 
was the ease. Ten out of the thirty-six given by the sultan 
ran away, because they feared that the white men, whom they 
believed to be cannibals, were only taking them into the inte- 
rior to eat them ; and one pagazi, more honest than the freed 
men, deposited his pay u;[X)n the ground, and I'an away too. 
Go we must, however, for one desertion is sure to lead to more: 
and go we did. Our procession was in this fashion: the kiran- 
gozi, with a load on his shoulder, led the way, flag in hand, fol- 
lowed by the pagazis carrying spears or bows and arrows in 
tlieir hands, and bearing their share of the baggage in the 
shape either of bolster-shai>ed loads of cloth and beads covered 
with matting, each tied into the fork of a three-pronged stick, 
or else coils of brass or copper wire tied in even wei^^hts to 
each end of sticks which they laid on the shoulder; then helter- 
skelter came the AVanguana, carrying carbines in their hands, 
and boxes, bundles, tents, cooking-pots — all the miscellaneous 



270 SPEKE AND GRANT, 

property on tlieir heads ; next the Hottentots, dragging the re- 
fractory mules laden with ammunition-boxes, but very lightly, 
to save the animals for the future ; and, finally. Sheikh Said 
and the Ealoch escort, while the goats, sick women and strag- 
glers brought up the rear." 

Speke's own occupation during the journey was to map out 
the country, and take compass bearings along the road. On 
arrival in camp every day, the altitude of the station above the 
sea-level w^as ascertained by boiling a thermometer, and the 
latitude by the meridian altitude of a star taken with a sextant. 
The rest of his work, besides sketching and keeping a diary, 
consisted in making geological and zoological collections. To 
Captain Grant was assigned the botanical collections, the ther- 
mometrical registers, the keeping of the rain-gauge, and sketch- 
ing. 

The route to Zungomero was the same traversed by the 
previous expedition, and it was reached on October 23d, after 
the usual troubles with the porters and natives. From this 
point reports of famine in the interior determined them to 
cross the mountains by the northern or Rubeho Pass. This 
being successfully accomplished early in December, the cara- 
van entered upon the Fiery Field, where starvation was only 
escaped by Speke's good luck in shooting a couple of rhi- 
noceros. The extortions of the chiefs began at Ikamburn, and 
they never stopped till the journey was ended. All sorts of 
means were employed — wheedling, cajolery, threats, and prom- 
ises were had recourse to, every league of the way, in order to 
obtain from the Englishman his fire-arms, his knives, his 
powder, his beads, shells, quinine, drugs, chemicals, cloth, his 
chronometer, compass, sextant, or mathemati(;al instruments. 
It was the same everywhere ; to speak of one instance is to 
tell of many. In one case, as an illustration, we find tliat 
" here the chief took a hongo, i.e., a tax of ten yards of meri- 
kani (a species of cloth), five yards of kiniki, and ten neck- 
laces of beads. Grain, meat and pombe beer were sometimes 
given in return, sometimes promised only, and not given till 
after days of delay." At the deserted village of Kirengue three 
of tlie mule-drivers ran away. One of the mules died after 
eighteen hours' sickness; and all the remaining animals died in 
a similar manner. In the flat valley of Makata, the travellers 
met Mamba, well known to all the caravans as the Great 
Mamba, or Crocodile. He had been the last to leave the 
TJnyamuezi, and, from this fact, had purchased all his stock of 
ivory at a cheap rate. There was a famine raging throughout 



8PEKE AND GRANT. 271 

the interior, as is not nnfreqnently the case, and, with his party, 
at hfs own estimate of two thousand sonls (a number no doubt 
greatly exaerge rated), he had come from Ugogo to Ngoto, living 
on the produce of the jungle and b}' boiling down for a soup 
occasionally the skin aprons of the porters. The prices of 
provisions, on account of the scarcity, became exorbitant. At 
Mhumi, the next station, they were as high as sixteen rations 
of corn, two yards of cloth ; three fowls, two yards of cloth ; 
one goat, twenty yards of cloth ; one cow, forty yards of cloth, 
the cloth being all the common American shirting. The sarsa- 
parilla vine was hero abundant, but was uncultivated and 
found growing as a weed, the natives not being aware of its 
value. All along this line, the natives live on what nature pro- 
duces for tliem, looking out for passing parties worth plun- 
dering. At Eubaga ninety-eight porters deserted, and Speke 
found tliat half of his property had been stolen, which circum- 
stance was a serious aggravation of the difficulty occasioned by 
the increase of expenses on account of the famine. 

At length on the 24th of January, 1861, after three months 
of hardsli^ip, the travellers entered Kazeli, in the province of 
Unyanyembe, and the first stage of their journey was ended. 
Speke w^as surprised at the change that had taken place in 
Unyanyembe, and in fact throughout Unyamwezi, since his 
last visit. The Arabs were no longer mere merchants, but lived 
like lords of the soil, and were then carrying on a deadly war 
with the native tribes. This, together with the famine which 
was felt throughout the region, had brought about such disor- 
ganization that he was detained for months in Kazeh from the 
sheer impossil)ility of procuring porters for his journey north- 
ward to the Nyanza. Many pages of his journal are taken up 
with accounts of the futile negotiations, starts which were no 
starts and ended in disappointment, the harassments and losses, 
which he and Grant had to undergo before (on the Stii of 
June) they crossed the frontier of (Jnyamwezi and entered 
Uzinza, the district lying next to it on the north. 

" Uzinza is ruled by two AVahuma chieftains of foreign 
blood, descended from the Abyssinian stock, of wliom we saw 
specimens scattered all over Unyamwezi. Travellers see very 
little, however, of these Wahuma, because, being pastorals, they 
roam about with their flocks and build huts as far away as 
they can from cultivation. Most of the small district chiefs, 
too, are the descendants of those who ruled in the same places 
before the country was invaded, and with them travellers put 
up and have their dealings. The dress of the AVahuma is 



272 8PEKE AND GBAISTT. 

very simple, composed cliiefly of cowhide tanned black — a fe\^ 
magic ornaments and charms, brass or copper bracelets, and 
immense numbers of sambo for stockings, which looked very 
awkward on their long legs. They smear themselves with 
rancid butter instead of macassar, and are, in consequence, 
very offensive to all bat the negro, who seems, rather than 
otherwise, to enjoy a good, sharp nose-tickler. For arms, they 
carry both bow and spear; more generally the latter. The 
Wazinza in the southern parts are so much like the Wanyam- 
wezi as not to require any special notice ; but in the north, 
where the country is more hilly, they are much more energetic 
and actively built. All alike live in grass-hut villages, fenced 
round by bomas in the south, but open in the north. Their 
country rises in high rolls, increasing in altitilde as it ap- 
proaches the Mountains of the Moon, and is generally well 
cultivated, being subjected to more of the periodical rains than 
the regions we have left, though springs are not so abundant, I 
believe, as they are in the Land of the Moon, where they ooze 
out by the flanks of the little granitic hills." 

The journey across Uzinza was marked by the most shame- 
less exactions yet experienced, each successive chief being if 
possible more rapacious and insolent than his fellows. Once a 
part of the caravan which had been left behind under Grant 
was attacked and robbed, though most of the goods were after- 
ward returned. And to cap all, Speke was so ill that part of 
the time he had to be carried in a hammock in a semi-delirions 
state, and at several places was obliged to halt several days 
from sheer exhaustion. The porters, moreover, took advantage 
of this to revolt, and were only induced to proceed by a liberal 
distribution of blackmail. On the 20th of October, after 
crossing a waste, uninhabited track, they entered Usui, the 
next district to the north; and after being levied upon by 
sundry chiefs on the way, were conducted to the palace of 
King Suwarora, in the Uthungu valley. Suwarora had pro- 
fessed a great desire to see white men, and he had even sent 
messengers to Uzinza to invite them to visit him; but he 
proved to be a superstitious savage, whose fear of witchcraft 
would not permit him to look upon them, and whose curiosity 
resolved itself into the most extortionate blackmail. While 
in Usui Speke received a visit from a native of Uganda, 
the kingdom in whose territory, according to the reports of 
travellers, the Nile issued from the Nyanza, and sent a mes- 
senger by him to Mtesa, the king of Uganda, announcing his 
coming. 



8PEKE AND GRANT. 273 

As soon as they had settled with Snwarora about the tribute — 
it took ten days to find him sober enough to attend to business 
— the travellers pushed forward, and after crossing a narrow 
strip of uninhabited territory, entered the famous and unknown 
kingdom of Karagwe. Their treatment in this land was very 
different from that which they had experienced in Uzinza and 
Usui. As soon as they had entered it an officer met them, 
and informed them that King Rumanika had ordered him to 
bring them on at once to his palace, that tiie village officeis 
had been instructed to supply them with food at the' king's ex- 
pense, and tliat no taxes are gathered from strangers in the 
kin<2:<iom of Karaijc^e. Nor was this the mere exasrsrerated 
boasting to which they had been accustomed. "The farther 
we went in this country," says Speke, " the better we liked it, 
as tlie people were all kept in good order; and the village 
chiefs were so civil, that we could do as we liked." On the 
25th of November, 18(>1, after some ten days of pleasant 
marching, they reached the palace of King Rumanika, situated 
in lat. 1° 42' S. and long. 31° I'E., — on the shore of a beau- 
tiful lake, in the bosom of the hills, to which Speke gave the 
name of Little Windermere. Almost as soon as they had ar- 
rived, they were introduced to Rumanika; and, as his is the 
most pleasing native figure in the whole literature of African 
discovery, we shall quote at some length from Speke's account 
of his visits to the court. 

" Leaving our traps outside the enclosure," he says, " both 
Grant and myself, attended by Bombay and a few of the 
seniors of my Wanguana, entered the vestil)ule, and, walking 
throuo-h extensive inclosures studded with huts of kino^lv di- 
mensions, were escorted to a pent-roofed baraza, which the 
Arabs had built as a sort of government office, where the king 
might conduct his state affairs. 

" Here, as we entered, we saw sitting cross-legged on the 
ground, Rumanika the king, and his brother Nnanaji, both of 
them men of noble appeai-ance and size. The king was plainly 
dressed in an Arab's black choga, and wore, for ornament, 
dress-stockings of rich-colored beads, and neatly worked wrist- 
lets of copper. Nnanaji, being a doctor of very high preten- 
sions, in addition to a check cloth wrapped round him, was 
covered with charms. At their sides lay huge pipes of black- 
clay. Li their rear, squatting quiet as mice, were all the king's 
sons, some six or seven lads, who wore leather middle-cover- 
ings, and little dream charms tied under their chins. The first 
greetings of the king, delivered in good Kisuahili, were warm 
18 



274 8PEKE AND GRANT. 

and affecting, and in an instant we both felt and saw we were 
in the company of men who were as unlike as they could be to 
the common order of the natives of the surrounding districts. 
They had fine Oval faces, large eyes, and high noses, denoting 
the best blood of Abyssinia. Having shaken hands in true 
English style, which is the peculiar custom of the men in this 
country, the ever-smiling Rumanika begged us to be seated on 
the ground opposite to him, and at once wished to know wliat 
we thought of Karagwe, for it had struck him his mountains 
were the finest in the world ; and the lake, too, did we not 
admire it ? Then laughing, he inquired — for he knew all tlie 
story — what we thought of Suwarora, and the reception we 
had met with in Usui. When this was explained to him, I 
showed hira that it was for the interest of his own kingdom to 
keep a check on Suwarora, whose exorbitant taxations pre- 
vented the Arabs from coming to see him and bringing things 
from all parts of the world. He made inquiries for the pur- 
pose of knowing how we found our way all over the world ; 
for on the former expedition a letter had come to him for 
Musa, who no sooner read it than he said I had called him 
and he must leave, as I was bound for Ujiji. 

" This of course led to a long story describing the world, the 
proportions of land and water, and the power of ships which 
'Conveyed even elephants and rhinoceros — in fact, all the ani- 
mals in the world — to fill our menageries at home, fete, etc., as 
well as the strange announcement that we lived to the north- 
ward, and had only come this way because his friend Musa 
(had assured me without doubt that he would give us the road 
'on through Uganda. Time flew like magic, the king's mind 
was so quick and inquiring ; but as the day was wasting away, 
he generously gave us our option to choose a place for our 
residence in or out of his palace, and allowed us time to select 
■one. We found the view overlooking the lake to be so charm- 
ing, that w^e preferred camping outside, and set our men at 
•once to work cutting sticks and long grass to erect themselves 
-sheds. 

" One of the young princes — for the king had ordered them 
■all to be constantly in attendance on us — happening to see me 
sit on an iron chair, rushed back to his father and told him 
;about it. This set all the royals in the palace in a state of 
high w^onder, and ended by my getting a summons to show off 
the white man sitting on his throne; for of course I could only 
be, as all of them called me, a king of great dignity, to in- 
-dulge in such state. Rather reluctantly I did as I was bid, 



SPEKE AND GRANT. . 275 

and allowed myself once more to be dragged into co\irt. Hii- 
manika, as gentle as ever, then burst into a fresh fit of merri- 
ment, and kfter making sundry enlightened remarks of in- 
quiry, which of course were responded to with the greatest sat- 
isfaction, finished off by saying, with a very expressive shake of 
tlie head, * Oh these Wazungu, these Wazungu ! they know 
and do everything.' 

" I then put in a word for myself. Since we had entered 
Karagwe we never could get one drop of milk either for love 
or for money, and I wishea to know what motive the Wahuma 
had for withholding it. We liad heard they held superstitious 
dreads, that any one who ate the flesh of pigs, fish, or fowls, or 
the bean called maharagwe, if he t^ted the products of their 
cows, would destroy their cattle, and I hoped he did not labor 
under any such absurd delusions. To which he replied, it was 
only the poor who thought so ; and as he now saw that we 
were in want, he would set apart one of his cows expressly for 
our use. On bidding adieu, the usual formalities of hand- 
shaking were gone through ; and on entering camp, I found 
the good, thoughtful king had sent us some more of his excel- 
lent beer." 

On the 26th of November, Speke made another visit to 
Rumanika, with whom he had a theological and historical dis- 
cussion, which so pleased the king that he said he would be 
delighted if Speke would take two of his sons to England, 
" that they might bring him a knowledge of everything." Tho 
same afternoon he called on the king's eldest brother, and veri- 
fied what had already been told him, viz., tllat the wives of the 
king and princes were fattened to such an extent that tliey 
could not stand up. The chief wife could not rise when he 
was introduced to her ; and so large were her arms that be- 
tween the joints the flesh hung down like large, loosely stuffed 
puddings. 

Next day Bombay was sent to the palace with the presents 
for the king, consisting of one block-tin box, one Kaglan coat, 
five yards of scarlet broadcloth, two coils of copper wire, a 
hundred large blue egg-beads, five bundles of best variegated 
beads, and three bundles of small beads — pink, blue, and white. 
This was less than had been exacted at times by the smallest 
local chiefs; but Rumanika was so delighted that he ])romised 
to do all he could to assist the travellers in getting northward, 
and even volunteered to send a messenger at once to the king 
of Uganda, to inform him of their intention to visit him, with 
his own favorable report of them, lie was as good as his word, 



276 SPEEE AND GRANT. 

and while the messenger was away they were entertained, near 
the palace, making and receiving frequent visits. 

On the 14th of December, Speke visited one of the sisters-in- 
law of the king, who, according to the native idea, was a per- 
fect l)eanty. " She was another of those wonders of obesity, 
nnable to stand excepting on all fours. I w^as desirous to ob- 
tain a good view of her, and actually to measure her, and in- 
duced her to give me facilities for doing so by offering in return 
to show her a bit of my naked legs and arms. Tlie bait took 
as I wished it, and after getting her to sidle and wriggle into 
the middle of the hut, I did as I promised, and then took lier 
dimensions, as noted below. "^ All of these are exact except the 
height, and I believe I could have obtained tliis more accur- 
ately if I could have had her laid on the floor. Not knowing 
what difiiculties I should have to contend with in such a piece 
of engineering, 1 tried to get her height by raising her up. 
This, after infinite exertions on the part of us both, was accom- 
plished, when she sank down again, fainting, for her blood had 
rushed into her head. Meanwhile, the daughter, a lass of six- 
teen, sat stark naked before us, sucking at a milk-pot, on which 
the father kept her at work by holding a rod in his hand ; for, 
as fattening is the first duty of fashionable female life, it must 
be duly enforced by the rod if necessary. I got up a bit of a 
flirtation with missy, and induced her to rise and shake hands 
with me. Her features were lovely, but her body was as round 
as a ball." 

On the 25th of December, Rumanika, hearing that it was the 
custom of white men to cele'brate the birth of tiie Saviour with 
a good feast of beef, sent them an ox. " I immediately paid 
him a visit," says Speke, * * to offer the compliments of the season, 
and at the same time regretted, much to his amusement, that 
he, as one of the old stock of Abyssinians, wlio are the oldest 
Christians on record, should have forgotten this rite; but I 
hoped the time would come when, by making it known that 
his tribe had lapsed into a state of heathenism, wliite teachers 
would be induced to set it all to rights again." 

Finally, on the 10th of January, 1862, the messenger whom 
Rumanika had sent to the king of Uganda returned, and with 
him came a royal ofiicer, with a large escort of smartly-dressed 

en, women, and boys, sent by the king to conduct the white 



Round the arm, 1 foot 11 inches ; chest, 4 feet 4 inches ; thigh, 2 f 3et 7 
hes ; calf, 1 foot 8 inches ; height, 5 feet 8 inches. 



BPEKE AND GRANT. 277 

men to his capital. Grant was laid up with a sore leg, and 
unable to move ; but the present was too good an opportunity to 
be lost, and Speke resolved to push on with the main body of 
the caravan, while Grant remained behind with several at- 
tendants in Kumanika's care. 

Setting out on January 11th, in three days the caravan 
reached and crossed the Kitangule River, which flows into the 
Victoria Nyanza from the west. They were now in Uganda 
territor}^, and were treated everywhere as the king's guests, 
though the indolence of the conductor delayed them greatly in 
the earlier marches. On the 28th, cresting a small hill, Speke 
caught sight of the lake for the first time. " Next day, aft«r 
crossing more of those abominable rush-drains, while in sight 
of the Victoria Nyanza, we ascended the most beautiful hills 
covered with verdure of all descriptions. At Meruka, where 
I put np, there resided some grandees, the chief of whom was 
the king's aunt. She sent me a goat, a hen, a basket of eggs, 
and some plantains, in return for which I sent her a wire and 
some beads. I felt inclined to stop here a month, everything 
was so very pleasant. The temperatui-e was perfect. The 
roads, as indeed they were everywhere, were as broad as our 
coach-roads, cut through the long grasses, straight over the 
hills and down throu<2:h the woods in the dells — a straui^e con- 
trast to the wretched tracks in all the adjacent countries. The 
huts were kept so clean and so neat, not a fault could be found 
with them — the gardens the same. Wherever I strolled I saw 
nothing but richness, and what ought to be wealth. The whole 
land was a picture of quiescent beauty, with a boundless sea in 
the back-ground. Looking over the hills, it struck the fancy 
at once that at one period the whole land must have been at a 
uniform level with their present tops, but that, by the constant 
denudation it was subjected to by frequent rains, it had been 
cut down and sloped into those beautiful hills and dales which 
now so much pleased the ej'e ; for there were none of those 
quartz dikes I had seen protruding through the same kind of 
aqueous formations in Usui and Karagwe, nor were there any 
other sorts of volcanic disturbance to distort the calm, quiet 
aspect of the scene." 

Still moving forw^ard by slow and easy marches, they found 
themselves approaching the palace of King Mtesa. The 7th 
of February is notable as the date on which they crossed the 
equator; and about noon on the 18th some pages met the cara- 
van to say they were to come along without a moment's delay, 
as the king had ordered. The king, they added, liad vowed that 



278 SPEKE AND GRANT. 

he would not taste food till he saw Speke, so that every bod j* 
might know what great respect he felt for the white man. 

""' One march more," says Speke, " and we came in sight of 
the king's kibuga, or palace, in the province of Bandawarogo, 
N. lat. 0° 21' 19'^ and E. long. 32° 44' 30''. It was a mag- 
nilicent sight. A whole hill was covered with gigantic huts, 
such as I had never seen in Africa before. I wished to go up 
to the palace at once, but the officers said ^ No, that would be 
considered indecent in Uganda ; you must draw up your men 
and lire your guns off, to let the king know you are here ; 
we will tlien show you your residence, and to-morrow you 
will doubtless be sent for, as the king could not now hold a 
levee while it is raining.' I made the men iire, and then was 
shown into a lot of dirty huts, which, they said, were built 
expressly for the king's visitors. The Arabs, when they came 
on their visits, always put up here, and I must do the same. 
At first I stuck out on my claims as a foreign prince, w4iose 
royal blood could not stand such an indignity. The palace 
was my sphere, and unless I could get a hut there, I would 
return without seeing the king. 

" In a terrible fright at my blustering, Nyamgundu fell at 
my feet and implored me not to be hasty. I gave way to this 
good man's appeal, and cleaned my hut by firing the ground, 
for, like all the huts in this dog country, it was full of fleas. 
Once ensconced there, the king's pages darted in to see me, 
bearing a message from their master, who said he was sorry 
the rain prevented him from holding a levee that day, but the 
next he would be delighted to see me. 

" On the 19th the king sent his pages to announce his inten- 
tion of holding a levee in my honor. I prepared for my first 
presentation at court, attired in my best, though in it I cut a 
poor figure in comparison with the display of the dressy Wa- 
ganda. They wore neat bark cloaks resembling the best yel- 
low corduroy cloth, crimp and well set, as if stiffened with 
starch, and over that, as upper cloaks, a patchwork of small 
antelope skins, wliich I observed were sewn together as w^ell 
as any Englisli glovers could have pieced them ; while their 
head-dresses, generally, were abrus turbans, set off with highly 
polished l)oar-tusks, stick-charms, seeds, beads, or shells, and 
on their necks, arms, and ankles they wore other charms of 
w^ood, or small horns stuffed with magic powder, and fastened 
on by strings generally covered with snake-skin. Nyamgundu 
and Mania demanded, as tlieir official privilege, a first peep ; 
and this being refused, they tried to persuade me that the 



SPEKE AND GRANT. 279 

articles comprising the present required to \)q covered with 
chintz, for it was considered indecorous to offer anything to 
his majesty in a naked state. This little interruption over, 
the articles enumerated below * were conveyed to the palace 
in solemn procession thus: with Kyamguudu, Mania, the 
pages, and myself on the flanks, the Union Jack, carried by 
tha kirangozi guide, led the way, followed by twelve men as 
a guard of honor, dressed in red flannel cloaks, and carrying 
their arms sloped, with fixed bayonets; while in their rear were 
the rest of my men, each carrying some article as a present. 

*' On the march toward the palace, the admiring courtiers, 
wonder-struck at such an unusual display, exclaimed, in rap- 
tures of astonishment, some with both hands at their mouths, 
and others clasping their heads with their hands, ^ Irungi ! 
irungi ! ' which may be translated ' Beautiful ! beautiful ! ' 
The palace, or entrance, quite surprised me by its extraordinary 
dimensions, and the neatness with which it was kept. The 
whole brow and sides of the hill on which we stood were 
covered with gigantic grass huts, thatched as neatly as so 
many heads dressed by a London barber, and fenced all round 
with the tall yellow reeds of the common Uganda tiger-grass; 
while within the enclosure the lines of huts were joined to- 
gether, or partitioned off into courts, with walls of the same 
grass. It is here most of Mtesa's three or four hundred 
women are kept, the rest being quartered chiefly with his 
mother, known by the title of Nyamasore, or queen-dowager. 
They stood in little groups at the doors, looking at us, and evi-* 
dently passing their own remarks, and enjoying their own 
jokes, on the triumphal procession. At each gate as we 
passed, officers on duty opened and shut it for us, jingling the 
big bells which are hung upon them, as they sometimes Art 
at shop-doors, to prevent silent, stealthy entrance. 

" The first court passed, 1 was even more surprised to find 
the unusual ceremonies that awaited me. There courtiers of 
high dignity stepped forward to greet me, dressed in the most 
scrupulously neat fashions. Men, women, bulls, dogs, and 
goats were led about by strings ; cocks and hens were carried 
in men's arms ; and little pages, with rope turbans, rushed 
about, conveying messages, as if their lives depended on their 



* 1 block-tin box, 4 rich silk cloths, 1 rifle ("Whitworth's), 1 gold chronom- 
eter, 1 revolver-pistol, 3 rifled-carbines, 3 sword-bayonets, 1 box ammunition, 
1 box bullets, 1 box gun-caps, 1 telescope, 1 iron chair, 10 bundles best beads, 
1 set of table-knives, spoons, and forks. 



280 SPEKE Am) GRANT, 

swiftness, every one holding his skin cloak tightly round him^ 
lest his naked legs might by accident be shown. 

" This, then, w^as the ante-reception court ; and I might 
have taken possession of the hut, in which musicians were 
playing and singing on large nine-stringed harps, like the Nu- 
bian tambira, accompanied by harmonicons. By the chief 
officers in waiting, however, who thought fit to treat us like 
Arab merchants, I was requested to sit on the ground outside 
in the sun with my servants. Now I liad made up my mind 
never to sit upon the ground as the natives and Arabs are 
obliged to do, nor to make my obeisance in any other manner 
than is customary in England, though the Arabs had told me 
that from fear they had always complied with the manners of 
the court. I felt that if I did not stand up for my social 
position at once, I should be treated with contempt during the 
remainder of my visit, and thus lose the vantage-ground I 
had assumed of appearing rather as a prince than a trader, 
for the purpose of better gaining tlie confidence of the king. 
To avert over-hastiness, however — for my servants be^an to be 
alarmed as I demurred against doing as I was bid — i allowed 
five minutes to the court to give me a proper reception, say- 
ing if it were not conceded I would then walk away. 

" Nothing, however, was done. My own men, knowing me, 
feared for me, as the}^ did not know what a ' savage ' Iving 
would do in case I carried out my threat ; while the Waganda, 
lost in amazement at what seemed little less than blasphemy, 
stood still as posts. The affair ended by my walking straight 
away home, giving Bombay orders to leave the present on the 
ground, and to follow me. 

" Although the king is said to be unapproachable excepting 
when he chooses to attend court — a ceremony which rarely 
happens — intelligence of my hot wrath and hasty departure 
reached him in an instant. He first, it seems, thought of leav- 
ing his toilet-room to follow me ; but, finding I w^as walking 
fast and had gone far, changed his mind, and sent walcungu 
running after me. Poor creatures ! they caught me up, fell 
upon their knees, and implored I would return at once, for 
the king had not tasted food, and would not until he saw me. 
I felt grieved at their touching appeals ; but, as I did not 
understand all they said, I simply replied by patting my 
heart and shaking my head, walking, if anything, all the 
faster. 

" On my arrival at my hut, Bombay and others came in, 
wet through with prespiration, saying the king had heard of 



SPEKE AND GRANT. 281 

my grievances. If I desired it, I might bring my own chair 
with me, for he was very anxious to show me great respect, 
although such a seat was exclusively the atti-ibiite of the king, 
no one else in Uganda darins: to sit on an artificial seat. 

" M}^ point was gained, so I cooled myself with coifee and 
a pipe, and returned rejoicing in my victory. After i*etuniing 
to the second tier of huts from which I had retired, everybody 
appeared to be in a hurried, confused state of excitement, not 
knowing what to make out of so nnprecedented an exhibition 
of temper. In the most polite manner, the officers in waiting 
begged me to be seated on my iron stool, whicli I had brought 
with me, while others hurried in to announce my arrival. 'But 
for a few minutes only I was kept in suspense, when a band of 
music, the mnsicians wearinoj on their backs lonof-haired £]:<^)at- 
skins, passed me, dancing as they went along like bears in a fair, 
and playing on reed instruments worked over with pretty beads 
in various patterns, from which depended leopard-cat skins, the 
time being regulated by the beating of long hand -drums. 

"The mighty king was now reported to be sitting on his 
throne in the state hut of the third tier. I advanced, hat in 
hand, with my guard of honor following, formed in ^ oj)cn 
ranks,' who in their turn were followed by the bearers cai-i-y- 
ing the present. I did not walk straight up to him as if to 
shake hands, but went outside the ranks of the thi-cc-sidcd 
square of squatting wakungu, all habited in skins, mostly cow- 
skins ; some few of whom had, in addition, leopard-cat skins 
girt round the waist, the sign of royal blood. Here I was 
desired to halt and sit in the glanng sun : so I donned my 
hat, mounted my umbrella, a phenomenon whicli eet them all a 
wondering and laughing, ordered the guard to close ranks, 
and sat gazing at the novel spectacle. A more theatrical 
sight I never saw. The king, a good-looking, well-figured, 
tall young man of twenty-five, was sitting on a red blanket 
spread upon a square platform of royal grass, incased in tiger- 
grass reeds, scrupulously well dressed in a new mbugu. The 
liair of his head was cut short, excepting on the top, where 
it was combed up into a high ridge, running from stem to 
stern like a cock's comb. On his neck was a very neat orna- 
ment — a large ring, of beautifully worked small beads, form- 
ing elegant patterns by their vai*ious colors. On one arm was 
another bead ornament, prettily devised ; and on the other a 
wooden charm, tied bv a strin<]r covered with snake-skin. On 
every finger and every toe he had alternate brass and copper 



282 8PEKE AND GRANT, 

rings ; and above the ankles, half way up to the calf, a stock 
ing of very pretty beads. Everything w^as light, neat, and 
elegant in its way ; not a fault could be found with the taste 
of his ' getting up.' For a handkerchief he held a wdll- 
folded piece of bark, and a piece of gold-embroidered silk, 
which he constantly employed to hide his large mouth when 
laughing, or to wipe it after a drink of plantain wine, of which 
he took constant and copious draughts from neat little gourd- 
cups, administered by his ladies-in-waiting, who were at once 
his sisters and wives. A\ white dog, spear, shield, and woman 
— the Uganda cognizance — were by his side, as also a knot of 
staff officers, with whom he kept up a brisk conversation on 
one side ; and on the other was a band of wichwezi, or lady- 
sorcerers, such as I have already described. 

" I was now asked to draw nearer within the hollow square 
of squatters, where leopard-skins were strewed upon the 
ground, and a large copper kettle-drum, surmounted with brass 
bells on arching wires, along with two other smaller drums 
covered with cowrie-shells, and beads of color worked into pat- 
terns, wore placed. I now longed to open conversation, but 
knew not the language, and no one near me dared speak, or 
even lift his head from fear of being accused of eyeing the 
women ; so the king and myself sat staring at one another for 
full an hour — I mute, but he pointing and remarking with 
those around him on the novelty of my guard and general ap- 
pearance, and even requiring to see my hat lifted, the umbrella 
shut and opened, and the guards face about and show off 
their red cloaks — for such wonders had never been seen in 
Uganda. 

" Then, finding the day waning, he sent Maula on an em- 
bassy to ask me if I had seen him ; and on receiving my reply, 
' Yes, for full one hour,' I was glad to find him rise, spear in 
hand, lead his dog, and walk unceremoniously away through 
the inclosure into the fourth tier of huts ; for this being a 
pure levee da)^, no business was transacted. The king's gait in 
retiring was intended to be very majestic, but did not succeed 
in conveying to nrie that impression. It was the traditional 
walk of his race, founded on the step of the lion ; but the out- 
ward sweep of the legs, intended to represent the stride of the 
noble breast, appeared to me only to realize a very ludicrous 
kind of waddle, which made me ask Bombay if anything seri- 
ous was the matter with the royal person. 

" I had now to wait for some time, almost as an act of hu- 
manity ; for I was told the state secret, that the king had re- 



8PEKE AND GRANT. 283 

tired to break his fast and eat for the first time since hearing 
of my arrival ; but the repast was no sooner over than he pre- 
pared for the second act, to show off his splendor, and I was 
invited in, with all my men, to the exclusion of all his own of- 
ficers, save my two guides. Entering as before, I found him 
standing on a red blanket, leaning against the right portal of 
the hut, talking and laughing, handkerchief in hand, to a hun- 
dred or more of his admiring wives, who, all squatting on the 
ground outside, in two groups, were dressed in new mbugus. 
My men dared not advance upright, nor look upon tlie women, 
but, stooping, with lowered heads and averted eyes, came 
cringing after me. Unconscious myself, I gave loud and im- 
patient orders to my guard, rebuking them for moving like 
frightened geese, and, with hat in hand, stood gazing on the 
fair sex till directed to sit and cap. 

"Mtesa then inquired what messages were brought from 
Rumanika ; to which Maula, delighted with the favor of 
speaking to royalty, replied by saying Rumanika had gained 
intelligence of Englishmen coming up the Nile to Gani and 
Kidi. The king acknowledged the truthfulness of their story, 
saying he had heard the same himself ; and both wakungu, as ^ 
is the custom in Uganda, thanked their lord in a very enthusi- 
astic manner, kneeling on the ground — ^for no one can stand in 
the presence of his majesty — in an attitude of prayer, and 
throwing out their hands as they repeated the words, nyanzig, 
nyanzig, ai nyanzig mkahma wangi, etc., etc., for a considera- 
ble time ; when, thinking they had done enough of this, and 
heated with exertion, they threw themselves flat upon their 
stomachs, and, floundering about like fish on land, repeated 
the same words over again and again, and rose doing the same, 
with their faces covered with earth ; for majesty in Uganda is 
never satisfied till subjects have grovelled before it like the 
most abject worms. This conversation over, after gazing at 
me, and chatting with his women for a considerable time, the 
second scene ended. The third scene was more easily ar- 
ranged, for the day was fast declining. He simply moved 
with his train of women to another hut, where, after seating 
himself upon his throne, with his women around him, he in- 
vited me to approach the nearest limits of propriety, and to sit 
as before. Again he asked me if I had seen him, evidently 
desirous of indulging in his regal pride; so I made the most 
of the opportunity thus afforded me of opening a conversation 
by telling him of those grand repoi'ts I had formerly heard 
about him, which induced me to come all this way to see him, 



284: 8PEKE AlfD GRANT. 

and the trouble it had cost me to reach the object of my de- 
sire; at the same time taking a gold ring from off my finger, 
and presenting it to him, I said, ' This is a small token of 
friendship ; if you will inspect it, it is made after the fashion 
of a dog-collar, and, being the king of metals, gold, is in every 
respect appropriate to your illustrious race.' 

^' He said, in return, ^ If friendship is your desire, what 
would you say if I showed you a road by which you might 
reach your home in one month ? ' I^ow everything had to be 
told to Bombay, then to JSTasib, my Kiganda interpreter, and 
then to either Maula or ISTyamgunda, before it was delivered to 
the king, for it was considered indecorous to transmit any mes- 
sage to his majesty excepting through the medium ot one of 
his officers. Henee I could not get an answer pat in ; for as 
all Waganda are rapid and impetuous in their conversation, 
the king, probably forgetting he had put a question, hastily 
changed the conversation and said, * What guns have you got? 
Let me see the one you shoot with.' I wished still to answer 
the first question first, as I knew he referred to the direct line 
to Zanzibar across the Masai, and was anxious, without delay, 
to open the subject of Petherick and Grant ; but no one dared 
to deliver my statement. Much disappointed, I then said, ^ I 
had brought the best shooting-gun in the world — Whitworth's 
rifle — which I begged he would accept, with a few other 
trifles ; and, with his permission, I would lay them upon a car- 
pet at his feet, as is the custom of my country when visiting 
saltans.' He assented, sent all his women away, and had a 
mbngu spread for the purpose, on which Bombay, obeying my 
order, first spread a red blanket, and then opened each article, 
one after the other, when Nasib, according to the usage already 
mentioned, smoothed them down with his dirty hands, or rub- 
bed them against his sooty face, and handed them to the king 
to show there was no poison or witchcraft in them. Mtesa ap- 
peared quite confused with the various wondei's as he handled 
them, made silly remarks, and pondered over them like a per- 
fect child, until it was quite dark. Torches were then lit, and 
guns^ pistols, powder, boxes, tools, beads, — the whole collection, 
in shoi't, — were tossed together topsy-turvy^ bungled into mbu- 
gus, and carried away by the pages. Mtesa now said, 'It is 
late, and time to break up; what provisions would you wish to 
have?' I said, ^ A little of everything, but no one thing con- 
stantly.' ' And would you like to see me to-morrow?' 'Yes, 
every day.' 'Then you can't to-morrow, for I have business; 
but the next day xiome if you like^ You cbm now go away, 



SPEKE AND GRAKT. 285 

ah ^ here are six pots of plantain wine foi' you ; my men will 
seanh for food to-morrow.'" 

JSotwitbstanding this apparently favorable reception, Speke 
was detained upwards of four months in Uganda, niaking vain 
efforts all the time to get away either northward to the iS^ile, 
or eastward to tlie coast. At least one fourth of his book is 
taken up in describing the incidents of this prolonged stay, 
and the various hindrances to which Mtesa subjected his impa- 
tient guests. lie wheedled, and begged, and extorted all sorts 
of things from them as hongo / and promised all they required 
in return — promises which he never performed. Tlie cruelty 
of this savage was equal to his ra])acity and greed. lie exe- 
cuted his wives and sisters without remorse for the most trifling 
offences, or for no offence at all, and it was not uncommon for 
him to take npon himself the office of executioner. The 
frank barbarity of the court is strikinofly illustrated bv the fol- 
lowing incident. Four days after his lirst visit, Speke was 
again in the palace, and was requested to shoot four cows which 
were loose in the enclosure. " Having no bullets for my gun, 
I borrowed the revolving pistol I had given the king, and shot 
all four in a second of tiuie ; but as tlie last one, only wounded, 
turned sharply upon me, I gave her the fifth and settled her. 
Gi'cat applause followed this wonderful feat, and the cows 
were given to my men. The king now loaded one of the car- 
bines I had i^iven him with his own hands, and ijivinf]: it full- 
cock to a page, told him to go out and shoot a man in the outer 
court, which was no sooner accomplished than the little ui-cliin 
returned to announce his success with a look of glee, such as 
one would see in the face of a boy who had robbed a bii-d's 
nest, caught a trout, or done any other boyish trick. The king 
said to him, 'And did you do it well?' ' Oh yes, capitally.' 
lie spoke the truth, no doubt, for he dared not have trifled 
with the king ; but the affair created hardly an^^ interest. I 
never heard, and there ap[)earcd no curiosity to know, what 
individual human being the urchin had depi'ived of life." 

The only really pleasant incident of the travellers' story iix 
Uganda was the arrival of Grant, who, on learning from Speke 
of the chance of getting northward, left Karagwe, and per- 
formed the journey on a littei-, reaching Mte&a's capital on the 
L xth of May. 

At last, after every argument had been tried and induce- 
ment ottered, without success, a lucky fit of jealousy against 
Rumanika induced Mtesa to favor the travellers' design of 
going northward. lie would show Huraanika, he said, that all 



286 8PEKE AND GRANT, 

his supplies need not come through his country. If the white 
men would open a route of tramc for him to the north, he 
w^ould furnish them with guides to Unyoro and with boats for a 
voyage on the Nile. They closed with this on the spot, urged 
forward the preparations in feverish anxiet}^, and on the 7th of 
July were once more on their way northward. 

When they reached the frontier of Unyoro, Speke deter- 
mined to send Grant forward with the main body of the cara- 
van to King Kamrasi's capital, while he himself penetrated 
eastward, to the point where the l^ile was supposed to flow out 
of the Victoria Nyanza. They separated on the 19th, and two 
days afterward, on the 21st, Speke reached the river. 

'^ Here at last," he writes, " I stood on the brink of the Nile ; 
most beautiful was the scene, nothing could surpass it ! It was 
the very perfection of the kind of effect aimed at in a highly kept 
park; with a magnilicent stream from six hundred to seven 
hundred yards wide, dotted with islets and rocks, the former 
occupied by the fishermen's huts, the latter by many crocodiles 
basking in the sun, flowing between fine grassy banks, with 
rich trees and plantations in the background, where herds of 
the hartbeest could be seen grazing, while the hippopotami 
were snorting in the water, and florikin and guinea-fowl rising 
at our feet." 

They proceeded up the left bank of the Nile, at some dis- 
tance from the stream, passing through rich jungle and plan- 
tain gardens, and reached the Isamba Rapids on the 25th of 
Julj^ The river is here extremely beautiful. The water runs 
between deep banks which are covered with fine grass, soft 
cloudy acacias, and festoons of lilac convolvuli. On the 28th, 
they reached liipon Falls, after a long marc4i over rough hills, 
and through extensive village plantations lately devasted by 
elephants. But they were well rewai'ded, for the falls were 
the most interesting sight that Speke had yet seen in Africa. 
"Everybody," he says, "ran to see them at once, though the 
march had been long and fatiguing, and even my sketch-book 
was called into pla3^ Though beautiful, the scene was not 
exactly what I expected ; for the broad surface of the lake was 
shut out from view by a spur of hill, and the falls, about 12 
feet deep, and 400 to 500 feet broad, were broken by rocks. 
Still it was a sii^-ht that attracted one to it for hours — the roar 
of the waters, the thousands of passenger-fish, leaping at the 
falls with all their might, the Wasoga and "Waganda fishermen 
coming out in boats and taking post on all the rocks, with rod 
and hook, hippopotami and crocodiles lying sleepily on the 



SPEKE AND GRANT. 287 

water, the ferry at work above the falls, and cattle driven down 
to drink at the margin of the lake, made, in all, w^ith the pretty 
nature of the country — small hills, grassy-topped, with trees in 
the folds, and gardens on the lower slopes — as interesting a 
picture as one could wish to see." 

" The expedition," he adds, " had now performed its func- 
tions. I saw that Old Father Nile without any doubt rises in 
the Victoria N'Yanza, and, as I had foretold, that lake is the 
great source of the holy river which cradled the lirst expounder 
of our religious belief. I mourned, however, when I thought 
how much time 1 had lost by the delays in the journey which 
had deprived me of the pleasure of going to look at the north- 
east corner of the N'Yanza to see what connection there was, 
by a strait frequently spoken of, between it and tiie other lake 
where the Waganda went to get their salt, and from which an- 
other river flowed to the north, making ' Usoga an island.' 
But I felt I ought to be content with what I had been spared to 
accomplish, for I had seen full half of the lake, and had infor- 
mation given me of the other half, by means of which I knew 
all about the lake, as far, at least, as the chief objects of geo- 
graphical importance were concerned. Let us now sum up the 
whole and see what it is worth. Comparative information as- 
sured me that there was as much water on the eastern side of 
the lake as there is on the western — if anything, rather more. 
The most remote water, or top head of the Niie, is the south- 
ern end of the lake^ situated close on the third degree of south 
latitude, which gives the Nile the surprising length, in direct 
measurement, rolling over thirty-four degrees of latitude, of 
above two thousand three hundred miles, or more than one- 
eleventh 01 the circumference of our globe. Now, from this 
southern point, round by the west, to where the great Nile 
stream issues, there is only one feeder of any importance, and 
that is the Kitangtile river ; whilst from the southernmost 
point, round b}^ the east to the strait, there are no rivers at all 
of any importance ; for the travelled Arabs one and all aver, 
that from the west of the snow-clad Kilimanjaro to the lake 
where it is cut by the second degree, and also the iirst degree 
of south latitude, there arc salt lakes and salt plains, and the 
country is hilly, not unlike Unyamii^zi; but they say there are 
no great rivers, and the country is so scantily watered, having 
only occasional runnels and rivulets, that they always have to 
make long marches in order to find water when they go on 
their trading journeys: and further, those Arabs who had 
crossed the strait on going to Usoga had not crossed any river. 



288 SPEKE AND GBANT. 

There remains to be disposed of the ' salt lake,' which I be* 
lieve is not a salt but a fresh water lake ; and my reasons are 
that the natives call all lakes salt, if they find salt beds or salt 
islands in such places. Dr. Krapf, when he obtained a sight 
of the Kenia Mountains, heard from the natives that there was 
a salt lake to its northward, and he also heard that a river ran 
from Kenia towards the l^ile. If his information was true on 
this latter point, then, without doubt, there must exist some 
connection between this river and the salt lake I have heard of, 
and this in all probability would also establish a connection be- 
tween my salt lake and his salt lake, which he'' heard was called 
Baringo. In no view that can be taken of it, however, does 
this unsettled matter touch the established fact that the head 
of the Nile is in three degrees south latitude, where, in the 
year 1858, I discovered the head of the Victoria N'Yanza to 
be. I now christened the 'stones ' Ripon Falls, after the noble- 
man who presided over the Royal Geographical Society when 
my expedition was got up ; and the area of water from which 
the Nile issued, Napoleon Channel, in token of respect to the 
French Geographical Society, for the honor they had done me 
just before leaving England, in presenting me with their gold 
medal for discovering the Yictoria Nyanza." 'The lake he 
found to be 3,750 feet above the level of the sea, or upwards of 
1,900 feet above the altitude of Lake Tanganzika, with which, 
therefore, there can be no connection. 

Returning to the point at which he had first struck the Nile, 
Speke and his party descended the river in five boats of five 
planks each, tied together and caulked with inbugu rags. His 
destination was the palace of Kamrasi, king of Unyoro. No 
one knew how many days would be required to reach it ; for 
tlie crew Avere neither expert nor diligent in the use of the 
paddles by which the boats were propelled. The river was 
at once river and lake — clear in the centre, and fringed gener- 
ally with tall rush, above which the green banks rose gently 
into land which looked like a cultivated park. After several 
days' voyaging, the hostility of the natives compelled Speke to 
leave the river and join Grant ; and together they marched on 
toward the palace, which was reached September 4th. They 
found it to be one large, dumpy hut, surrounded by many 
smaller ones, and " the worst royal residence since leaving 
Uzinza." The guests, though invited to the palace, were placed 
in dirty little huts far removed from it ; and the king being 
constantly drunk, it was several days before they could get 
their quarters changed. On the 14th Speke had an interview 



8PEKE AND GRANT, 289 

with his majesty, who almost immediately asked for a many- 
bladed knife which his officers had seen in the hands of Cap- 
tain Grant. Next day the kin^ again alluded to the knife, and 
said he did not intend to keep it if it Iiad not been brouglit for 
him, but wished merely to look at it and would return it again. 
Only a few days more, and he wished to have a chronometer, 
worth $250, which was sure to be spoiled in his liands in a sin- 
gle day. As this was tlie only chronometer Speke had with 
him, he requested tlie king to wait until he had procured an- 
other. But no ; he must have it then and tliere. Speke placed 
it on the ground, saying, '^ The instrument is yours, but I must 
keep it till another one comes." " No," said the king, " I must 
have it now, and will send it to you three times a day that you 
may look at it." The watch went, gold chain and all. The 
rapacious rogue then asked Speke if he could make up another 
" magic hoi*se," as he called the chronometer, for he hoped 
thatl)y this piece of extortion he had deprived the explorers of 
the power of travelling. When he was told that it would take 
500 cows to purchase another, the whole court was more con- 
firmed than ever in their belief in its magical power ; for wlio 
in his senses would give 500 cows " for the mere gratification 
of seeing at what time his dinner should be eaten ? " 

A month had elapsed before the^^ could induce Kanorasi to 
furnish them with guides through the next district; and it was 
not until the 9tli of November that they were once more on the 
way. During the first eight days they floated slowly down the 
Nile, which at first resembled a long lake, averaging from two 
hundred to one thousand feet in breadth. Both sides of the 
stream were fringed with the huge papyrus rush. The left one 
was low and swampy ; while the other rose in a gently sloping 
bank, covered with trees and beautiful festoons of convolvuli. 
There wei*e also floating islands, continually in motion, with a 
growth upon them of rush, grass, and ferns. These islands 
were slowly working their way downwards, thus pix)ving that 
the river was in full flood. 

Just before reaching the Karuma Falls, they once more took 
to the land, and marched northwards through the wilderness of 
Kidi and the country of the Madi. On the 3d of December 
they reached Faloro, near which they fell in with a Turkish 
expedition in search of ivory; and on the 13th of January, 
1863, arrived at Paira, a collection of villages in sight of the 
Nile. Still pressing onward, on the 15th of February they 
marched into Gondokoro, the most northerly station on the 
White Nile, where Speke had the pleasant surprise of meeting 
19 



290 SPEKE AND QBANT. 

his old friend Baker, who told him that he had come np with 
three vessels fully equipped with armed men, camels, horses, 
donkeys, beads, brass wire, and everything necessary for a long 
journey, expressly in aid of the explorers. 

The long exploration which had been carried forward through 
so much difiiculty and discouragement, was now substantially 
finished; but Sj^eke closes his journal with the following inter- 
esting particulars concerning the Nile and its various affluents : 

" Ihe first affluent, the Bahr-el-Ghazal, took us by surprise; 
for instead of finding a large lake, as described in our maps, 
at an elbow of the Nile, we found only a small piece of water 
resembling a duck-pond, buried in a sea of rushes. The 
old Nile swe|)t through it with majestic grace, and carried us 
next to the Geraffe branch of the Sobat Eiver, the second afflu- 
ent, which we found flowing into the Nile with a graceful semi- 
circular sweep and good stiff current, apparently deep, but not 
more than fifty yards broad. 

" Next in order came the main stream of the Sobat, flowing 
into the Nile in the same graceful way as the Geraffe, which in 
breadth it surpassed, but in velocity of current was inferior. 
The Nile by these additions was greatly increased ; still it did 
not assume that noble appearance which astonished us so much, 
irriTnediatdy after the rainy season, when we were navigating 
it in canoes in Unyoro. 

" Next to be treated of is the famous Blue Nile, which we 
found a miserable river, even when compared with the Geraffe 
branch of the Sobat. It is very broad at the mouth, it is true, 
but so shallow that our vessel with difficulty was able to come 
up it. It had all the appearance of a mountain stream, subject 
to great periodical fluctuations. I was never more disap- 
pointed than with this river. If the White River was cut off 
from it, its waters would all be absorbed before they could 
reach Lower Egypt. 

" The Atbara Hiver, which is the last affluent, was more like 
the Blue River than any of the other affluents, being decidedly 
a mountain stream, which floods in the rains, but runs nearly 
dry in the dry season. 

" I had now seen quite enough to satisfy myself that the 
White River, which issues from the N'Yanza at the Ripon 
Falls, is the true or parent Nile ; for in every instance of its 
branching, it carried the palm with it in the distinctest man- 
ner, viewed, as all the streams were by me, in the dry season, 
which is the best time for estimating their relative perennial 
values. 



' 8PEKE AND GRANT. 291 

" Since returning to England, Dr. Murie, who was with me 
at Gondokoro, has also come home; and he, judging from my 
account of the way in which we got ahead of the flooding of 
the Nile l)etween the Kai'uma Falls and Gondokoro, is of opin- 
ion that the Little Luta N'Zige, must be a great backw^ater to 
the Kile, which the waters of the Kile must have been occupied 
in filKng during my residence in Madi ; and then about the 
same time that I set out from Madi, the Little Luta N'Zige, 
having been overcharged Avitli water, the surplus began its 
march northwards, just about the same time when we started 
in the same direction. For myself, I believe in this opinion, 
as he no sooner asked me how I could account for the phenom- 
enon I have alread_y mentioned of the river appearing to de- 
crease in bulk as we descended it, than I instinctively advanced 
his own theory. Moreover, the same hypothesis will answer 
for the slusfffish floodino^ of the Kile down to Eofvpt." 

Both Spekc and Grant on their return to England were re- 
ceived with distinguished honors. Sir Itoderick Murchison, in 
presenting them to the Royal Geographical Society, spoke in 
enthusiastic terms of the important results of their expedition. 
The gold medal of the society w^as awarded to the discovei'ers, 
and the queen congratulated the society on the success of an 
enterprise aided in part by government funds. The king of 
Italy also forwarded gold medals; and Lord Palmerston, in the 
House of Commons, added his tribute to the discoverers of the 
source of the Kile. The deaths of great discoverers, however, 
aie not always proportioned to their lives. Bruce, as we have 
seen, died in consequence of a fall downstairs, and Mungo 
Park was miserably drowned. AVhile still in the first flush of 
his great success. Captain Speke went out for a day's field-sport, 
and accidentally shot himself on the 21st of September, 1864, 
not long after having published his journals. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

SIR SAMUEL BAKER. 

It has already been mentioned in the previons chapter, that 
one of the first persons met by Speke on his arrival at Gondo- 
koro, was Mr. Samuel White Baker, who told him that he had 
organized an expedition, and come thus far for the especial pur- 
pose of searching for him and Grant — if they had been success- 
ful, to assist them in reaching home ; if they were dead, to as- 
certain their fate ; and if they had only in part accomplished 
their purpose, to complete, if possible their discoveries. Baker 
was an old friend of Speke's ; like the latter, had been a great 
sportsman ; and again, like his friend, was a man of noble am- 
bition, lie had become inured to a tropical climate by a resi- 
dence of eight years in Ceylon ; was familiar with danger in 
all the many forms in which it presents itself in savage coun- 
tries ; and was the very man to undertake a hazardous enter- 
prise. Speke left Zanzibar, as we have seen, in September, 
1860 ; in April, 1861, six months afterwards, Baker left Cairo, 
having organized a large and costly expedition of his own. 
Warned by the experience of his predecessors of the dangers 
resulting from divided counsels, he determined that there 
should be no one to consult ; and therefore furnished the ex- 
pedition entirely at his own expense, — being amenable to no 
one if it should fail, and not disposed to share the credit with 
another if it should succeed. His arrangements were admi- 
rable ; he provided everything but honest men ; these were 
beyond his reach. He was accompanied by his wife, a Swedish 
lady whom he had met and married at Cairo, and who insisted 
upon sharing with him the perils of the unknown interior. 
She was very young, scarcely more than a girl in fact ; but 
she was possessed of a courage greater than that of most men, 
with a clear head, and a decision which in cases of sudden 
emergency, could quickly manifest itself in action. The part 
taken by this lady in tlie work of the expedition is greatly to 
her honor. 

Before the expedition had gone further than Berber, in Ethio- 
pia, Baker felt convinced that success in his White Nile explor- 



Slli SAMUEL BAKER, 293 

ation would be impossible without a knowledge of Arabia, 
as he was completely at the mercy of his interpreter. He re- 
solved, therefore, to postpone the main object of his journey 
until he had mastered the Arabic language ; and, accordingly, 
he spent a whole year in examining the Atbara and the Blue 
Nile, the two great alHuents of the White Nile, which, though 
tlie former is often perfectly dry for months, and the latter 
also for part of the year quite insignificant, pour such vast 
volumes into the main stream in June, that they cause the an- 
nual inundation in Lower Egypt. He explored the Atbara 
and its afiluents to their sources in the mountains of Abyssinia; 
crossed over to the Bine Nile, which he descended in boats ; 
and on the 11th of June, 1862, having in the meanwhile ac- 
quired a satisfactory knowledge of Arabic, found himself in 
Khartoom, ready to prosecute his White Nile scheme. 

At Kliartoom he encountered difficulties at every turn, all 
parties being utterly hostile to him, as a spy who would pry 
into the iniquitous dealings of the merchant companies wliose 
depot and base it is ; but in spite of all obstacles, he collected 
ninety-six followers of dubious character, and chartered three 
Nile boats. Having made preparations on the most liberal 
scale, not only for his own party, but for the relief of Speke's, 
he left Kliartoom for Gondokoro, on the 18th of December. 
He was opposed in every way up to the very last, and his final 
act at Kliartoom was what he calls a " physical ex])lanation " 
with the Reis of the Government boat, which purposely ran into 
him at starting. He took with him, besides his servants and 
soldiers, twenty -one donkeys, four camels, and four horses, that 
he might be less dependent upon native porters, who are so 
hard to obtain without the assistance of the ivory merchants 
and slave-dealers. He had given his personal superintendence 
to pack-saddles, forage, and general equipage, so that when he 
arrived at Gondokoro, after a voyage up the White Nile of 
about six weeks, his animals were all in good condition. 

Baker remained at Gondokoro from the 3d of February till 
the 20th of March, distrusted and treated as a spy. On the 
15th of February, twelve days after his arrival, occurred his 
memorable meeting with Speke and Grant, of which he gives 
an animated account. " When I first met them," he wTites, 
"'they were walking along the bank of the river towards my 
boats. At a distance of about a hundred yards I recognized 
my old friend Speke, and with a heart beating with joy I took 
off my cap and gave a welcome hurrah I as I ran towards him. 
For the moment he did not recognize me ; ten years' growth 



294: ^IR SAMUEL BAKER. 

of beard and moustache had worl^ed a change; and as I was 
totally unexpected, my sudden appearance in the centre of 
Africa appeared to him incredible. I hardly required an in- 
troduction to his companion, as we felt ali-eady acquainted, 
and after the transpoits of this happy meeting we walked to- 
gether to my diahbiah, my men surrounding us with smoke 
and noise by keeping up an unremitting fire of musketry the 
whole way. We were shortly seated on deck under the awn- 
ing, and such rough fare as could be hastily prepared was set 
before these two ragged, careworn specimens of African travel, 
whom I looked upon with feelings of pride as my own country- 
men. As a good ship arrives in liarbor, battered and torn by 
a long and stormy voj^age, yet sound in Jier frame and sea- 
worthy to the last, so b(jth these gallant travellers arrived at 
Gondokoro. Speke appeared the more worn of the two ; he 
was excessively lean, but in reality he was in good tough con- 
dition ; he had walked the whole way from Zanzibar, never 
having once ridden during that wearying march. Grant was 
in honorable rags ; his bare knees projecting through the rem- 
nants of trowsers that were an exhibition of rough industry in 
tailor's work. lie was looking tired and feverish ; but both 
men had a fire in the eye that showed the spirit that had led 
them through." 

On iirst meeting Speke and Grant, and learning their convic- 
tion that they had accomplished the discovery of the Nile 
source. Baker felt that nothing remained for him to do but to 
disband the expedition wliose preparation had cost him so 
much time, labor, and money. But Speke soon showed him a 
map of his route, and pointed out that he had been unable to 
complete the actual exploration of the Nile, and that a most 
important portion still remained to be determined. " It ap- 
peared that in N. lat. 2° 17^, Speke and Grant had crossed the 
Nile, which the}^ had tracked from the Victoria Lake ; but the 
river, which from its exit from that lake had a northern course, 
turned suddenly to the west from Karuma Falls (the point at 
w^hich they had crossed it at lat. 2° 17^. They did not see 
the Nile again until they arrived in N. lat. 3° 32', which was 
then flowing from the W.S.W. The natives and the King of 
Unyoro (Kamrasi) had assured them that the Nile from the 
Victoria Nyanza, which they had crossed at Karuma, flowed 
westward for several days' journey, and at length fell into a 
large lake called the Luta Nzige ; that this lake came from the 
south, and that the Nile on entering the northern extremity 
almost immediately made its exit, and as a navigable river 



SIB SAMUEL BAKER 295 

continues its course to the nortli, through the Koshi and ^ladi 
countries. Both Speke and Grant attaclied great importance to 
this hike Luta Xzige, and the former was much annoj'ed that 
it had been impossible for tliem to carry out the exploration. 
lie foresaw that .staj^-at-home geographei's, who, with a com- 
fortal)le arm-chair to sit in, travel so easily with their fingers 
on a map, wonld ask him why he had not gone from such a 
place to such a place ? why he had not followed the Nile to the 
Luta Nzige lake, aiKJ from the lake to Gondokoro? As it 
happened, it was impossible for Speke and Grant to follow the 
Nile from Karuma : — tlie tribes were fighting with Kamrasi, 
and no strangers could have got through the country. Accord- 
ingly they procured their information most carefully, completed 
their map, and laid down the reported lake in its supposed 
position, showing the Nile as both influent and efiluent precisely 
as had been explained by the natives. 

" Speke expressed his conviction that the Luta Nzige must 
be a second source of the Nile, and that geographers would be 
dissatisfied that he had not explored it. To me this was most 
gratifying. I had been much disheartened at the idea that tlie 
great work was accomplished, and that nothing remained for 
exploration ; I even said to Speke, * Does not one leaf of the 
lanrel remain for me ? ' I now heard that the field was not 
only open, bnt that an additional interest was given to the ex- 
ploration by the proof that the Nile flowed out of one great 
lake, the Victoria ; but that it evidently must derive an addi- 
tional supply from an unknown lake as it entered it at the 
northern extremity, while the body of the lake came from the 
south. The fact of a great body of water such as the Luta 
Nzige extending in a direct line from south to north, while the 
general system of drainage of the Nile was from the same di- 
rection, showed most conclusively, that the Luta Nzige, if it 
existed in the form assumed, must have an important position 
in the basin of the Nile." 

Here then was work worthy of his ambition, and as the first 
step towards its accomplishment he determined to accompany 
Del)ono's party (which had brought down Speke and Grant) 
back to Faloro, and as much further as they could be induced 
to go. To this end he concluded an engagement with Moham- 
med, the leader of the party, which seemed to promise most 
favorably ; bat he soon discovered that it was a ruse on the 
part of the Gondokoro traders, who had resolved to defeat his 
expedition at all hazards. The traders entered into a regular 
conspiracy against Baker, circulating the most damaging re- 



296 SIM SAMUEL BAKER 

ports concerning him amongst his own men, who actually 
agreed to mutiny, and if interfered with to kill him. Fortu- 
nately this plot was revealed to him in time ; he discharged 
most of his escort on the spot, — but that same day had the 
mortification of seeing Mohammed's party leave for Faloro, 
and of receiving word that if he followed on their road they 
would fire upon him. 

There was j list one trader in Gondokoro who seemed friendly 
to Baker, — a Circassian named Koorshid. Just when Baker 
had seen all his expedients for getting forward fail, and was 
beginning to feel convinced that his chances were hopeless, 
a party of Koorshid's people arrived with ivory from the La- 
tooka county, an unexplored district lying some seventy or 
eighty miles eastward from Gondokoro. Several of the Latooka 
people came with them ; they visited Baker, gave him many 
particulars concerning their country, and begged him to visit 
it. lie resolved to accept the invitation, and Koorshid favored 
his design ; but Ibrahim, the Arab-Turk who commanded the 
party, and all his men, fearing that he would expose the hor- 
rible cruelties of their slave-trafiic, declared that they would 
prevent him from accompanying them, and on marching off 
sent a messenger to Baker daring him to follow. The circum- 
stances were desperate and discouraging ; but by threats and 
persuasions Baker prevailed on seventeen of the men whom he 
had previously enlisted at great expense to proceed with him. 
They were the worst of the lot, and he was perfectly aware 
that they would embrace the first opportunity to desert, or 
even to murder him ; but he was prepared, as he thought, for 
the emergency. Between Gondokoro and the country of the 
Latookas- there is a district called Eltyria, where the road to 
Latooka leads through a narrow defile in the mountains, in 
which Baker's small party could easily be destroyed. Baker 
started after Ibrahim with the intention of passing him in 
the night, outmarching him, arriving first in Ellyria and se- 
curing the good-will of the natives by kindness and presents 
before Ibrahim should have time to poison their minds against 
him and thus prevent the passage of the mountains. The 
scheme was good enough, but it failed. These trading-parties 
when outward bound generally travel light. Ibrahim had but 
little to carry. lie went to steal cattle from one tribe and ex- 
change them for ivory and slaves with another. Baker in- 
tended to ]3ay his way like a gentleman ; and therefore, while 
he was toiling on with liis heavily-laden camels and donkeys, 
the thief won the race and was first at Ellyria. 



SIR SAMUEL BAKER. 297 

Baker and his wife, far in advance of their party and con- 
gratulating themselves on the success of their plan, had entered 
the mountain-pass, dismounted from tlieir horses, and were 
talking together under a tree near the path, when they heard 
the approach of a party which they supposed to be their own ; 
but it was that of the Turks, who detiled past them without 
salaaming, and with an expression of studied insolence upon 
their countenances. The last man of the long cavalcade was 
Ibrahim himself. Baker sat there, looking at that beautiful, 
cruel Arab-Turk face, with the wicked dark eyes, which would 
not catch his own. The opportunity was being quickly lost. 
Mrs. Baker urged her husband to speak, but he would not, and 
she spoke herself ; he was already almost beyond earshot, when 
she called Ibrahim by name. The ice was broken ; and a louder 
challenge from Mr. Baker brought the man to their side. 
They were friends. The lady's voice had brought these two 
antagonistic spirits into amicable intercourse, and so had saved 
the expedition. Not that there was much show of affection at 
first. Baker told Ibrahim that if anything happened to him 
(Baker) he (Ibrahim) was sure to be hung, and Mrs. Baker fol- 
lowed in a milder strain. They concluded a truce, Baker 
promising ivory and Ibrahim pledging friendship, but warning 
the Englishman not to come near his men for the present. 
From this moment Ibrahim was at Mr. Baker's call. The in- 
fluence of the stronger mind over the weaker was gradual in 
its growth, but that growth was sure and steady. In the end 
It was almost absolute. 

Another great difficulty soon occurred. Ibrahim had a little 
^rl with him, and Mrs. Baker had so won upon him by her kind- 
ness to his child, that he confided to the travellers the infor- 
mition that their men intended to desert them when they came 
toLatome. Accordingly,' when they reached that village, they 
foiiid that their men were already mixed with those of Mo- 
hanmed, who was there. Baker therefore determined that he 
shoiild not remain, but would start next day with Ibrahim. It 
was i. riotous, anxious night. At half-past five in the morning 
Ibralim's party beat drum and prepared to start, and Mr. Ba- 
ker gj.ve orders to rise and follow : bat not a man moved ; on 
repeating the order, a few rose and rested on their guns. The 
arch-reoel, Bellaal, was standing near Mr. Baker, leaning on 
his gun, and e3'eing him with the most determined insolence. 
Baker p-etended not to notice him, and gave the order the 
third time. The man marched straight up to him, and, strik- 
ing his gun on the ground, declared that " not a man should 



298 'Sm SAMUEL BAKEB. 

move," and refused to load the camels. For reply, Baker struck 
him a blow on the jaw, which sent the miscreant's gun flying 
into the air, while the offender himself staggered and fell in- 
sensible. Rushing in, single-handed, among the others, he 
seized some of them by the throat, and brought them one by 
one to the camels. The Yakeel, or head man of the party, who 
had thought it as well to be accidentally absent, now appeared, 
and things were righted once more. 

The country along which they now passed was most beauti- 
ful. Jungles and trees alternated with plains, and mountains 
rose all around them to the height of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. 
Their own party having been brought into subjection, the two 
travellers by themselves hastened to overtake Ibrahim. As 
they approached a village, one of the native porters in Ibra- 
him's caravan threw down his load and ran. He would cer- 
tahily have been shot if Baker had not at once ridden after 
him and kept between the guns and the runaway, thus run- 
ning the risk of the latter's turning upon him and killing him 
with his spear. But the poor fellow threw away his spear, 
while he quickened his speed. At length Baker closed upon 
liim and made signs for him to catch his horse's mane, which 
ill his terror he did, and returned to the party. Baker claimed 
him as his property, that he might protect him, and would 
not allow the Turks either to shoot him or flog him, and goin^ 
to Ibrahim, procured his pardon, thus gaining the admiratioa 
of the Turks for his gallantry, and the love of the natives for 
his humanity. When his own party came up, he found tl^at 
three men, including Bellaal, had deserted and joined Ko- 
hammed. " Inshallah," he exclaimed, " the vultures shall pick 
their bones ! " The words produced a great effect, at the time, 
on those who heard them ; and a still deeper one when diey 
were afterwards terribly fulfilled . 

The next stoppage was at Tarrangolle, the chief town cf La- 
tooka, thirteen miles beyond Latome. Baker declares tJie La- 
tookas to be the finest savages he ever saw. They are nesrly six 
feet high, with fine foreheads, good features, and handsome 
bodies. In manners, tliey are frank, naive, good-humored, 
and polite ; and are thus in utter contrast with the tribss which 
surround them. They seem to be of a Galla or Abyssinian- 
Asiatic origin. The head-dress of the men is very remarkable 
— -their coiffure taking from eight to ten years to bring it to 
perfection. The hair is at first " felted " with fine twine ; as 
the fresh hair grows through this, the twine process is repeated, 
until at last a compact substance is formed, an incli and a half 



SIM SAMUEL BAKER, 299 

thick, trained into the form of a helmet, with a frontlet and 
crest of copper. Of course, they never disturb this, and it lasts 
them their lifetime. They ornament it with beads, cowries, os- 
tricli feathers, and other decorations, but have not a particle of 
clothing of any kind upon their bodies. 

TarrangoUe (120 miles IST. E. of Debono's station at Faloro, 
where Spoke met Mohammed) contains about 3,000 houses. 
It is strongly fortified by palisades, with low entrances at inter- 
vals, these beiu": closed at nicrht with thorn-bushes. The main 
street is broad, but all the others are so narrow as to admit 
only one cow at a time. These narrow lanes lead to the kraals 
in various parts of the town in which the cattle, their only 
wealth, are housed ; and, in consequence of the narrowness of 
the approaches, they are easily defended, a matter of moment 
in a country where cattle-stealing is prevalent. The houses for 
the people are of conical shape, and, as is almost univer- 
sally the case in Africa, are without windows. On ap- 
proaching every town since Latome, it has been observed that, 
near it, was invariably a vast heap of human remains, mixed 
with fragments of pottery. These have their origin in the pe- 
culiar funeral rites of the Latookas. AYhen a man dies a natu- 
ral death, he is buried close to his own door, and there are fu- 
neral dances in his honor for several weeks ; at the end of that 
time they dig him up, and having cleaned the bones, put them 
in an earthen jar and cany them out of the town — and there 
they remain. 

At this town Baker pitched his tent, and remained for some 
time, lie won the confidence of the king by presents, and his 
majesty became extremely friendly. The men in this district 
have just as many wives as they can keep, and there is no 
other restriction. But their domestic affections are weak. 
They will not fight for their wives and children, but will for 
their cattle. An illustration of this fact was o-iven not lone: after 
the arrival of the party. Ibrahim and his men had reconnoi- 
tred a village in the hills, with a view to attacking it, and seiz- 
ing its inhabitants for slaves ; but they found it too strong for 
them. It was reported in a few da^'s that the party of Mo- 
hammed had attacked it and utterly destroyed it. He had sent 
against it one hundred and ten armed men and three hundred 
natives, and they had burnt it and carried off a great number 
of slaves. They were in safe retreat when a native promised 
to guide them to the cattle-kraals, and they returned. But now 
that their beasts were in danger, the Latookas, who had al- 
lowed their wives and children to be led away to slavery, 



300 SIB SAMUEL BAKER 

turned upon the aggressors, and with one fierce charge routed 
them, and drove them down the glen. Behind every rock 
there was an armed man, stones were showered on the attack- 
ing-party, retreat became flight, until, mistaking their way, 
they came to a precipice iive hundred feet high, over which 
they were driven by the Latookas to their destruction. Mo- 
hammed himself had not been with the party ; and Bellaal, 
the deserter from Mr. Baker, had, luckily for him, not yet re- 
covered from the effects of his former master's blow, and so 
had remained in camp ; but several of the other fugitives had 
perished with their new comrades. " Where," Baker asked on 
hearing of its catastrophe, " are the men who deserted from 
me ? " His men were almost green with awe as they brought to 
him two of his own guns, stained with blood, which had been 
picked up on the scene of the fight. Observing the numbers 
on the guns, he repeated aloud the names of the dead men who 
had carried them, and added, " All dead ! Food for vultures ! '^ 
His influence after this was almost unbounded. The poor, su- 
perstitious men believed that he had caused the disaster, and 
when he was casually going through the camp would quietly 
rsay, " My God-master," to which he would reply, " There is a 
God." From that moment he observed an extraordinary 
change in the manner of both his own people, and those of 
Ibrahim, all of whom now treated him with the greatest respect. 
But while Baker was gaining influence among the Turks, 
;the whole body of the Turks had completely lost prestige 
.-among the Latookas in consequence of the defeat of Mo- 
liararaed. This was to be regretted, inasmuch as it had be- 
come necessary for Ibrahim to return to Gondokoro with a 
very large detachment, for the purpose of obtaining ammuni- 
tion. There were but thirty-five men of his party left behind. 
These were cantoned among the natives, being entirely at their 
mercy, and yet they treated their hosts with stupid brutality. It 
was not possible that such a state of things could continue. Ba- 
ker saw this very plainly, and his suspicions that an attack was 
.meditated were soon confirmed by the removal from the town 
'Of all the women and children. He sent at once for Com- 
moro, the more influential of the two chiefs of the Latookas, 
:and desired to be informed of his intentions. The chief de- 
scribed very fairly the state of exasperation into which his peo- 
ple had been worked, and stated the great difticulty there 
would be in preventing an attack, in which case Baker's inno- 
cent party would be confounded with Ibrahim's ruflians. At 
tiine o'clock, the deadly stillness of the tropical night was bro- 



Sm SAMUEL BAKER. 301 

ken by three loud booms f i-om the great war-drum of the La- 
tookas, and the call to war was answered from every point of the 
compass. The country was aroused. But the Latookas liad to 
deal with a vigilant foe. The first sounds of the African drum 
had scarcely died away, ere they were answered by a furious 
and defiant rattle from that of the Turks. In less than five 
minutes the two parties had amalgamated under the leadership 
of Mr. Baker, while Mrs. Baker, to whose share fell the order- 
ing of the magazine, had her liundreds of rounds of cartridges 
laid in order, and her boxes of percussion-caps open. Baker's 
quarters were in the very stronghold which the natives had 
constructed for the defence of the town, and therefore he was 
not by any means anxious as to the result. But the natives, 
finding the parties prepared, did not attack, and, after three 
hours of drumming and counter-drumming, Commoro ap- 
peared, and all ended without bloodshed, — Baker threatening to 
burn the place over the people's heads if they beat their note 
of war again. 

Quiet having been thus established. Baker by and by rnoved 
out of the town and entrenched himself on the plains. As his 
detention here was likely to be for some time, he made prepa- 
rations for relieving its wearisomeness by the help of a garden. 
He was here many months, and spent his time in observing the 
manners of the people, and in writing down his opinions about 
them, those opinions being very unfavorable. 

A break in the monotony of his life occurred on the 2d of 
May, 1863, at which date he started on a visit to a friendly 
tribe at a place called Obbo, the people of which had sent him 
presents and encouraged intercourse. The journey was south- 
west. Crossing the valley of Latooka, the party arrived at the 
first ridge ; and having succeeded in getting across all their 
donkeys except one, they forded the River Kanieti, and, after 
sleeping out in a soaking rain, began the main ascent of the 
mountains, which they found to be extremely difiicult. At the 
summit, they found themselves on a plateau about four thou- 
sand feet above the level of the sea, and there they found 
the highland town of Obbo (lat. 4° N.). The country was 
very beautiful. Bold granite peaks, five thousand feet in 
height, towered on all sides above the wooded valleys, which 
were narrowed by the advancing spurs of the mountains, each 
of which had its village crowning its summit, one thousand 
eight hundred feet above the heads of the travellers. The 
pure air was delicious ; and there was a profusion of beautiful 
and sweet-scented flowers all around. Wild plums and custard 



302 



SIR SAMUEL BAKER, 



The flow of the streams was to the north-west, and directly 
into the Nile, which was about thirty miles distant. 

The people are different in language and appearance from 
those of Latooka. They dress their hair in the form of a 
beaver's tail, and not in the helmet form of the latter. Their 
noses are higher, and they wear some small amount of clothing, 




KATCHIBA AND HIS HEBE ON A JOURNEY. 

although even with them the covering is very scanty. They are 
courteous in their manners, and never ask for presents. They 
are ruled b}^ a sorcerer named Katchiba, who is a most peculiar 
old man, and from whom the travellers obtained much informa- 
tion about the country. He has a different seraglio at every 
village, in order that his wives should not quarrel, and boasts 
of one hundred and sixteen children living. His method of 
travelling is on the shoulders of one of his slaves, and whenevei 
he starts on a journey a dozen or more of these bearers are 
among his retinue. 

Learning that to the south there was a great river which for 
many months in the year could not be crossed, Mr. Baker re- 



SIB SAMUEL BAKER 303 

solved to visit it, and left his wife with eight men at Obbo, he 
himself starting south with three, on the 7th of Ma3^ Proceed- 
ing through a country of great beaut}^ parallel with the Madi 
Mountains, whose summits are 8,000 feet high, he particularly 
observed the beauty of the orchis, and the immense number 
of the elephants, in an attack by one of which he lost his 
horse, and nearly lost his life. Tie soon reached a fine peren- 
nial stream, the Atabbi, a tributary of the Asua, the river 
which he had come to see. Tiiis was so full that his horse had 
to swim a part of it. Here he saw a herd of two hundred ele- 
phants, and killed a hartbeest. lie arrived tlie next day at the 
village of Shoggo, thirty-five miles from Obbo, and the people 
received him kindly. The chief confirmed the accounts 
which had formerlj^ been given him respecting the Asua — it 
was a roaring torrent which it was impossible to ci*oss till the 
rainy season was over. He therefore returned to Obbo, satis- 
fied with the exploration which he had made, and resolved on 
the exercise of patience in connection with future and further 
travel in the same direction. He found that Mrs. Balver had 
been w^ell cared for by the old sorcerer, and having rewarded 
him, and left in his charge two hundred- weight of ammunition, 
he retraced his steps to liis depot at Latooka, to await there the 
cessation of the rains, which, where he had been, had been ex- 
cessive, though in Latooka they had hardly begun. As yet, the 
greater part of it had fallen among the mountains where he had 
been rambling, and where, previous to his excursion, he had 
seen the play of the thunder-storms every day. 

After their return to Latooka, Mrs. Baker was attacked with 
gastric fever ; he himself was prostrated with ague ; and small- 
pox was prevalent among the slave-hunting Turks. But, keep- 
ing the parties separate, he managed to prevent liis own men 
from catching the infection. One of his best horses died ; and 
we may remark here that he had lost every beast of burden he 
had — horse, donkey, or camel — long before his object was ac- 
complished. 

Baker was constantly endeavoring, at this time, to form defi- 
nite conceptions of the great water of which he was in search. 
The Bari interpreter had told him of a place — Magungo — 
which was on a great ri\'er, and he had concluded that that 
must be the Asua, the river to the southward which he was 
waiting to cross. But now in talking with Wani, another in- 
terpreter, he found him using the word " bahr" (river or sea) 
instead of " birke " (lake). Magungo, then, was situated on a 
lake so large that no one knew its limits. Two days east and 



304 Sm SAMUEL BAKER 

two days west from Magnngo no land is visible, while to the 
south its direction is utterly unknown. Large vessels on which 
white men have been seen, arrive at Magungo, bringing cowrie 
shells. From this information it was evident that the " Little 
Lake " of Speke was a much more important lake than had 
yet been supposed. Magungo must therefore be found and 
visited, through the country of Kamrasi, Speke's acquaint- 
ance. 

If his men had not behaved badly, lie would have been able 
to push forward before the rainy season began ; but he was 
hopelessly detained at Tarrangolle, where the people were be- 
coming hostile to their presence. The traders are so lordly and 
brutal towards the natives, that the deepest hatred of them is 
generated in the minds of the latter ; who yet, in their igno- 
rance and weakness, never think of combining to drive out the 
common enemy. They rather help him in his attacks on in- 
dividual tribes, in order that they themselves may be safer 
from the harm which such tribes might inflict upon them some 
future day. Finding, from the prevalent feeling of the native 
community, that they could no longer remain at Tarrangolle, 
Ibrahim and his party determined on moving to Obbo. This 
was a great annoyance to Baker ; but hesitation was impossi- 
ble, and delay equally so. An attack was expected from the 
exasperated natives daily, and it was impossible to get on 
in any way without the companionship of the traders. But 
the rainy season was at its height, and Mrs. Baker was very ill 
and unfit to move. A palanquin was therefore contrived for 
her, into which she was assisted, and they departed. The 
carrying power of the expedition was now reduced to fourteen 
,donkeys and one horse ; the donkeys being all in a very bad 
state, with sores on their backs which the birds kept continually 
raw, Baker had to hire forty porters. They went round the 
mountain on this occasion, and after six days' miserable march 
in pouring rain, with fearful thunder-storms, they reached Obbo, 
and found tiieir old friend Katchiba — the sorcerer-chief — "the 
best man," says Baker, " I ever met in Africa." 

For the next few months Baker remained at Obbo, and his 
position was not enviable. The Turks had utterly ruined the 
country, exactly in his line of march, and this he knew would 
make it difficult for him in regard to the feeling of the popula- 
tion. Ilis last horse died, and one by one all his asses, so that 
he was left without a single beast of burden. To crown all, 
he and his wife were both prostrated with fever, and so ill that 
neither could rise to assist the other. Kajs overran the 



SIR SAMUEL BAKER 305 

wretclied tent in wliich they lay, and there, while thousands of 
white ants crawled over their bodies, they knew tliat all their 
people, with the exception of a noble boy named Saat and 
three men who were faithful, heartil}^ wished them dead and 
out of the way. What it is to be in sucli a condition in a sav- 
age country, it is not easy to imagine. But, although there was 
a mixture of emotions, while these were their circumstances, 
there seems to have been on the part of the travellers no re- 
lenting or desire to abandon their enterprise. The old chief 
came to see them, and did what he could for them profession- 
ally. Sorcerer as he was, lie performed an enchantment for 
them, and no doubt took to himself and it the credit which be- 
longed to quinine. lie complained to them, in doleful terms, 
of tlie ruin which the White Nile traders were working in the 
country. 

During this season of detention at Obbo, Baker obtained 
further information from a native woman about Magungo. 
Kamrasi, in whose country the lake is, had sent this woman, 
two years before, as a spy among the traders. Slie was in- 
structed to tempt them to the country if their appearance was 
favorable ; but to return with a report if they seemed to be dan- 
gerous. She arrived at Debono's station, P'aloro, and Avas there 
immediately captured and sold as a slave, and was again sold 
to the man who owned her at present. Magungo, she said, was 
only four days' hard walking from Faloro, and was half-way 
between that place and Kamrasi's capital. The lake she de- 
scribed as a white sheet, as far as the eye could reach, and de- 
clared that " if you put a water-jar on the shore, the water 
would run np, break it, and carry it away." By such terms she 
meant to convey the idea that there were high waves. Baker 
laid his plans in accordance with this information, w^liich agreed 
with his previous knowledge and confirmed it. lie had been 
already within ten days' march of tlie lake when at Shoggo, in 
May ; but it would not be possible to march straight for it, in- 
asmuch as the country through which he would have to pass 
was in possession of Debono's people, and the customs of the 
White Nile prevented Ibrahim from entering it, while to go 
by himself was impossible. He therefore meant to persuade 
Ibrahim to go with him to Kamrasi's country, Unyoro, and 
there begin a fair and honest traffic for ivory with the king. 
If he could bring Kamrasi and Ibrahim together, Koorsliid, 
Ibrahim's master, would, according to the White Nile usages, 
become sole trader to that part of the country. Was the lake 
a source of the Nile, having a navigable outlet ? If so, it was 
20 • 



306 STB SAMUEL BAKER 

in Kamrasi's dominions ; and lie could have ivory carried to 
any depot on the lake side v^hich might be agreed on, and 
transported down the Nile as far as the river proved navigable, 
and then taken to Gondokoro, not more than ninety miles. 
Again, Unyoro was on the " clothing boundary." From tlie 
Shillook country, in lat. 10°, to Obbo, lat. 4°, none of the na- 
tives wear any clothing ; but from Unyoro down to Zanzibar 
they are all clothed. Here a most profitable business might be 
done by buying up ivory, and, by means of coasting craft on 
the lake, introducing European goods into the very heart of 
Africa. The difficulty would be to get a sufficient number of 
armed men to accompany the traders without the inducements 
of slave-hunting and cattle-stealing. 

Mr. and Mrs. Baker continued for months to drag on a mis- 
erable existence at Obbo. They were both worn by fever, their 
quinine was exhausted, and every beast of burden dead ; but 
their old friend Katchiba remained true to them, and Baker's 
influence with the Turks, having steadily grown during the 
(nine months he had been Avith them, was now paramount. He 
ihad been everything to them, their surgeon and physician, had 
lent them nearly everything the}^ had asked for, had mended 
(their guns, and quietly helped their helplessness, till they ex- 
claimed, " What shall we do when the Sowar [traveller] leaves 
the country ? " Ibrahim himself was ready to assist him in 
'every way. Baker pointed out to liim that his expedition had 
been unsuccessful in a large measure up to this time, and tliat 
he would obtain little credit from his master, Koorshid, when 
.he returned to Gondokoro, if he had no more than the pitiful 
lot of ivory which he had already got. He guaranteed him 
•one hundred cantars (ten thousand pounds) of ivory, if he would 
push on with him at all hazards, and obtain native porters for 
him at Shooa, and would consider Unyoro as his (Mr. Baker's) 
•country, and refrain from outrages on the natives. Ibrahim 
was amenable to reason, and yielded, notwithstanding the un- 
willingness of his men. But all this was gained only by de- 
:grees. The main points, however, were settled, and on the 5th 
of January, 1864, they started on the long-desired journey. 
The greater part of the goods of the travellers was left behind, 
in depot, and Ibrahim left forty-five men. Baker was still 
suffering from fever, and took his last dose of precious quinine 
'before beginning his journey. 

Before starting they had obtained some bullocks to supply 
'the places of the animals which they had lost, neither of the 
^travellers being fit for much fatigue. Baker's soon bolted into 



sin SAMUEL BAKER 307 

the bnsh, and was never more seen, and lie was compelled to 
trj^ walking. Mrs. Baker's kicked and threw her, and Iiiirt her 
severely. Ibrahim, always polite and obliging, gave her 
another, and Mr. Baker bonght a new one, after having strng- 
gled on in a walk of six-and-twenty miles. They passed the 
Attabi, and were now in a new conntry. In three days the}^ were 
on the banks of the Asna, the river whose state of flood had 
delayed them so long. It was now low, and they crossed it 
withont difficulty. The Turks, aware that they were not yet 
in the country in respect to which they had promised to al)stain 
from outrage, made a raid on a Madi village, and brought Ijack 
a few hundred head of cattle, and some slaves, having lost their 
standard-bearer. On the 13tli of January they reached Shooa, 
which, by the customs of the traders, belonged to Debono; 
but Ibrahim, in disregard of » these, appropriated it, and made 
it a depot. Kamrasi was known here, and the Obbo porters 
absconded as soon as they discovered that the party v\'as go- 
ing to his country. There had been war in Kamrasi's country, 
and there were other discouragements, but Baker resolved to 
press on. They left Shooa on the 18th of January. The land- 
scape was very beautiful. — Coming to the village of Fatiko, 
they found it surrounded with lofty and bold granite cliffs, on 
the summits of which the natives " were perched like ravens." 
They here, for the first time since leaving Gondokoro, crossed 
the track of Speke, who came straight from Karuma. This is 
the Koki in Gani of Speke. The perching of the natives on 
the rocks seems to have struck them both. " Knots of naked 
men," says Speke, " perched like monkeys on the rocks, await- 
ing our approach." 

The natives were very friendly, bnt so troublesome in their 
ceremonies of introduction and intercourse, that the travellers 
continued their journey, and, descending the hill, were at once 
in a region of prairies and swamps. Crossing the Un-y-ame, 
they marched two days through the long grass, and at length 
set it on fire before a north-wind, and kept in the tracks of the 
fire. Baker suspected that their guide was deceiving them, 
and leading them too far to the west, toward the island of Ki- 
onga, and his suspicion proved to be true. The march became 
extremely fatiguing, on account of the swamps ; but on the 
fourth day they entered a magnificent forest, and, gaining an 
elevation in it, saw a cloud of fog hanging over a distant val- 
ley, which betokened the presence of the noble stream which 
joins the two lakes. 

The river was reached on January 22d at a point about one 



308 SIB SAMUEL BAKER 

hundred and fifty miles distant from the Yictoria Lake of 
Speke, and sixty from the Luta N'Zige Lake, bnt Mr. Baker 
was not aware of the fact. The heiglit of the river above the 
sea was ascertained to be 3,806 feet. They were in Kionga's 
country after all; and one of the first persons tliey saw was 
Kionga's brother. The natives would liave nothing to do with 
them, and told them they might go to Kamrasi if tliey chose. 
They accordingly headed up tlie river towards the Karuma 
Falls of Speke, intending there to cross to the south side. Tlie 
distance was about fifteen miles. They had a picturesque march 
through an open forest, with the river, about one hundred and 
fifty feet wide, near by, roaring and foaming in many cascades, 
broken at certain piarts with rocky islands, on which were vil- 
lages and plantain groves ; and the same day reached the falls 
at the village of Atada, above the ferry. Kamrasi's people 
approached in a canoe, through the roar of the falls, and were 
told that Speke's brother had arrived, bringing presents to 
Kamrasi. After some little hesitation, he was requested to 
show himself. Baker therefore dressed himself as he knew 
Speke did, and stood, a solitary gray figure, on the summit 
of a lofty and perpendicular pinnacle of rock, opposite the 
crowd of people who swarmed thickly upon the other side of 
the river. When joined by the interpreter, he explained that 
his wife, an English lady, had come also, to thank Kamrasi 
for his kind treatment of Speke and Grant. A canoe was now 
sent across, and Mr. and Mrs. Baker went over in it alone. 
The likeness between Baker and Speke was sufiiciently great 
to confirm his claim. The people welcomed him in a frantic 
dance, pretending to attack and kill him, thrusting their lances 
close to his face, and so giving vent to the exuberance of their 
joy. He gave each of the principal men a bead necklace, and 
requested that there should be no delay in his presenta- 
tion to Kamrasi, as Speke had to wait for fifteeen days. 
They at once told him of a villanous raid, of which he knew, 
which Debono's people had made with the assistance of Rionga, 
and intimated that no stranger was to be ferried over, on pain 
of death to those who sanctioned and performed the service. 
He was further informed that on the appearance of the party, 
a messenger had been sent to M'rooli to Kamrasi, which was 
three days' march, and that until an answer was returned, 
nothing eoudd be done. All efforts to move these men were 
unavailing. Baker showed some magnificent presents, a.nd 
threatened to depart. The wretched headman assuring him 
that Kamrasi would cut his (the headman's) throat if Mr. Baker 



Sm SAMUEL BAKER 309 

took his presents away, and would probably do the same thing 
if he ferried liim over, begged him to stay where he was, 
whi(;h was impossible, there being nothing to eat and five days 
of desert behind him and his party. At last Mr. and Mrs. 
Baker, with only Ibrahim (who went disguised as their servant), 
and two others, were ferried over with all the presents. But 
it was mau}^ days before Kamrasi could be induced to act. 
He was sore on account of the recollection of the atrocities of 
Debono's desperadoes, and unwilling to have intercourse with 
strangers. At the end, cupidity prevailed, and the whole 
party were ferried across. This delay was all the more vexa- 
tious, as it was now the 30th of January ; the rainy season 
would begin next month in the high-lands of Obbo, and if the 
Asua should flood, they were hopelessly cut off from Gondo- 
koj'o. 

The people here were superior to the naked savages of 
Latooka and Obbo. They were modest and well clothed; 
their pottery was of a higher order ; and they were good black- 
smiths. 

At last the invitation fi^)m Kamrasi arrived, and proceeding 
by slow marches they arrived at his capital on Februar}^ lOtli. 
Kamrasi, the king is, as we have already seen, a prying, cowardly, 
avaricious savage, and he treated Baker just as he treated Speke 
and Grant. His policy with both parties was to procrastinate, 
and keep them waiting till he had got out of them everything 
which he fancied or supposed to be worth having, lie is a 
man who is utterly false in all he does. On this occasion it 
was his odd fancy to make his brother personate him. Mr. 
Baker had many fierce interviews with the king, as he sup- 
posed, but he never saw the real man at all, until the last terri- 
ble end, when hope of more spoil was vain, and Baker had also 
on his side ceased to expect that he should be able to depart 
with 'his life. This imitation Kamrasi had made demand after 
demand upon Bsker, and interposed obstruction after obstruc- 
tion in the way of his plan of reaching the Lake. The climax of 
his insolence was reached at a meeting between him and Baker, 
ostensibly to arrange the details of the journey, but really with 
the intention on his part of amusing himself with his guest's 
impatience. We will let Baker describe the incident in his 
own words : 

" I now requested Kamrasi to allow us to leave, as we had 
not an hour to lose. In the coolest manner he replied, *1 will 
send you to the lake and to Shooa, as I have promised ; but, 
you must leave your wife with me ! ' 



310 SIR SAMUEL BAKER. 

" At that moment we were surrounded by a great number 
of natives, and my suspicions of treachery at having been led 
across the Kafoor Kiver appeared confirmed by this insolent 
demand. If this were to be the end of the expedition, I re- 
solved that it should also be the end of Kamrasi, and, drawing 
my revolver quietly, I held it within two feet of his chest, and 
looking at him with undisguised contempt, I told him that if I 
touched the trigger, not all his men could save him : and that 
if he dared to repeat the insult I would shoot him on the spot. 
At the same time I explained to him that in my country 
such insolence would entail bloodshed, and that I looked upon 
him as an ignorant ox who knew no better, and that this excuse 
alone could save him. My wife, naturally indignant, had risen 
from her seat, and, maddened with the excitement of the moment, 
she made him a little speech in Arabic (not a word of which 
he understood), with a countenance almost as amiable as the 
head of Medusa. Altogether the mise en scene utterly aston- 
ished him ; the woman, Bacheeta, although savage, had appro- 
priated the insult to her mistress, and she also fearlessly let 
fly at Kamrasi, translating as nearly as she could the compli- 
mentary address that ' Medusa' had just delivered. 

" Whether this little coup de theatre had so impressed Kamrasi 
with British female independence that he wished to be off his 
bargain, I cannot say, but with an air of complete astonish- 
ment, he said, ' Don't be angry ! I had no intention of offend- 
ing you by asking for your wife ; I will give you a wife, if you 
want one, and I thought you might have no objection to give me 
3^ours ; it is my custom to give my visitors pretty wives, and I 
thought yon might exchange. Don't make a fuss about it ; if 
•you don't like it, there's an end of it ; I will never mention it 
again.' This very practical apology I received very sternly, 
and me rel}^ insisted upon starting. He seemed rather confused 
at having committed himself, and to make amends he called 
his people and ordered them to carry our loads. His men or- 
dered a number of women who had assembled out of curiosity, 
to shoulder the luggage and carry it to the next village, where 
they would be relieved. I assisted my wife upon her ox, and 
with a very cold adieu to Kamrasi, I turned my back most 
gladly on M'rooli." 

After leaving M'rooli, the party struck towards the Kafoor 
River, and crossed the head of the swamp which had prevented 
them from striking south-west, and caused them to go more 
southerly. Six hundred yelling natives accompanied them as 
an escort, and for the first day at least, as they afterwards 



Sm SAMUEL BAKER. 311 

found, Kamrasi himself was in the crowd, tliat he might see 
without being seen. Both Baker and liis wife were still suffer- 
ing from fever and its effects ; they had had great difficulty in 
finding porters, and the prospect before them was most depress- 
ing and discouraging. Matters were very bad, but they were 
soon to become worse. On the fourth day they came to the 
River Kafoor, which, bending south, they were ol3liged to cross. 
This could be done only in a very curious w^ay. The whole 
stream was matted over with a (jarpet of floating weeds, so 
strong and so thick, that it was sufficient to bear the weight of 
a man if he ran quickly. The width was about thirty yards. 
Baker started, begging his wife to follow him rapidly, keep- 
ing exactly in his footsteps. When he was half-way across, he 
turned to see why she was not with him, and, to his horror, 
saw her standing in one place, and sinking through the weeds, 
her face distorted and purple, and almost at the moment of his 
catching sight of her, she fell headlong down with a sunstroke. 
In the desperation of the moment, he and several of liis men 
seized her, and dragged her across, sinking in the weeds up to 
their waists, and just keeping her head above water. She lay 
perfectly insensible, as though dead, with clenched hands and set 
teeth, all efforts at restoring animation being for a time utterly 
useless. When at length these had succeeded, she was gently 
borne forward like a corpse — the rattle was in her throat, and 
the end seemed to be very near. Three days of insensibility 
were followed by seven more of brain-fever and delirium. 
Preparations were made for the worst, which it was believed 
had actually come ; but the spark of life was not fully extin- 
guished, and it began to brighten, and by and by burnt more 
steadily. It was now possible to move, and at the close of the 
sixteenth day from M'rooli they were at the village of Parkani, 
one hundred miles on a straight line from M'rooli ; and they 
began to hope once more that the object of these two years- 
weary wanderings was close at hand. 

They had not supposed, here, that it was actually within one 
march ; 3'et such was actually the case. On the day before 
they arrived at Parkani, Baker had observed, at a great distance 
to the north-west of their course, a range of very lofty moun- 
tains. Pie fancied that the lake must lie on the other side of 
this range, but now he was informed that these mountains 
were the western boundary of the N'Zige, and that if he started 
early he might reach it by noon. Accordingly on the 14th of 
March, 1864, starting early, he, " the first European who had 
ever seen it," looked on this magnificent body of water. 



312 SIR SAMUEL BAKER 

" It is impossible," he says, " to describe the triumph of that 
moment ; — here was the reward for all our labor — for the years 
of tenacity with which we had toiled through Africa. Eng- 
land had won the sources of the N'ile ! Long before I readied 
this spot, I had arranged to give tliree cheers with all our men 
in English style in honor of the discovery, but now that I 
looked down upon the great inland sea lying nestled in the 
very heart of Africa, and thought how vainly mankind had 
sought these sources throughout so many ages, and reflected 
that I had been the humble instrument permitted to unravel 
this portion of the great mystery when so many greater than I 
liad failed, I felt too serious to vent my feelings in vain cheers 
for victory, and I sincerely thanked God for having guided and 
supported us through all dangers to the good end. I was about 
1,500 feet above the lake, and I looked down from the steep 
granite cliff upon those welcome waters — upon that vast reser- 
voir which nourished Egypt and brought fertility where all was 
wilderness — upon that great source so long hidden from man- 
kind ; that source of bounty and of blessings to, millions of 
human beings ; and as one of the greatest objects in nature, I 
determined to honor it with a great name. As an imperishable 
memorial of one loved and mourned by our gracious Queen 
and deplored by every Englishman, I called this great lake 
the ^Albert Kyanza.' The Victoria and the Albert lakes are the 
two sources of the Nile." lie subsequenty procured the means, 
and gave his men a feast in honor of the discovery, and ingrati- 
tude for his wife's recovery. 

Baker on the occasion of his first sighting the water stood on 
a point 1,500 feet above it. Opposite to him, the lake was 
about sixty miles broad, but to the south and south-west lay a 
houndless horizon like the ocean. Immediately on the other 
side rose a grand range of mountains, some of them seven thou- 
sand feet high, and down two streams in their rifts there 
streamed great waterfalls, visible even at that vast distance; to 
add their contributions to the fresh-water ocean. This, then, 
was the Luta N'Zige, the lake of the dead locusts, the I'eservoir 
of the Nile. Mrs. Baker, utterly worn out with sickness, was 
assisted with difficulty to reach this first point of discovery. 
The ascent was too steep for cattle, but leaning on her hus- 
band's shoulder she accomplished it, and they both descended 
to the shore. Wild waves were sweeping over tlie surface of 
the water, and bursting at their feet upon the white shingly 
beach. In his enthusiasm, Baker dashed in headlong, and drank 



SIE SAMUEL BAKER 313 

deep of the pure, fresh element which in so vast a body was 
now actually before their eyes. 

Close by was the fishing village of Yacovia (in lat 1° 15' IS".), 
round whose huts stood beautifull}^ made harpoons, hooks, and 
lines used for taking not only the enormous fsh of 200 lbs. 
weight or more which abound in the lake, but also the hippo- 
potamus and the crocodile, v/hich are very numerous. The 
tj'aveller was delayed lie re eight days for want of the boats 
whi(;h had been ordered for him by Kamrasi. The situation 
was very unhealthy, but he was able to explore a little, and ob- 
tained much information about tliQ lake from the headman of 
the villa2:e. The lake is known to extend as far south as 
TJturabi, to a position exactly the same as the Lake Husisi of 
Speke. Tills is in the country of Karagwe, and the King Ru- 
manika was in tlie habit of sending ivory-hunting-parties to 
this point, which is close to Mount M'Fumbiro. This gives 
the lake a lengtli of about 300 miles in a south-western direc- 
tion. It then turns to the west, and its extent in that direc- 
tion is unknown. It appears from this that in length it is at 
least the second or third body of fresh water in the world, if a 
better knowledge of.it do not, indeed, prove it to be the lirst. 
It is remarkable that the necessity of the existence of some 
such reservoir was not asserted before. Such a body of water 
is absolutely required to force a stream such as the Nile to the 
sea, a distancic of 2,500 miles, with scarcely a perennial afflu- 
ent of any permanent importance, if we except the Blue Nile, 
which is insignificant in the summer. At the north-east cor- 
ner, at Maguugo, the river which connects it with Spckc's Vic- 
toria N'Yanza, and which ]:)asses Kamrasi's and the Karuma 
Falls, enters the lake. Thirty miles north the great Nile itself 
flows out of it towards the sea. 

Preparations were now made for a fortnight's voyage on 
the lake. Two canoes were selected, — the one twenty-six and 
tlie- other tliirty-two feet long, both made of single logs. A 
cabin was constructed in the smaller of these, and they started. 
The scenery was most beautiful. Sometimes the mountains 
to the west were quite invisible, and the canoes usually kept 
within a hundred 3'ards of the shore. Atone time the cliffs 
would recede, and leave a meadow more or less broad at their 
base ; at another the rocks would go right down into deep 
water ; and, again, a grand mass of gneiss and granite, 1,100 
feet high, would present itself feathered with beautiful ever- 
greens and giant euphorbia, with every runnel and rivulet 
iu its xjlefts fringed with graceful wild date-trees. Hippopot- 



314: SIR SAMUEL BAKER, 

ami lazily floated about ; and crocodiles, alarmed by the canoe^ 
would rush quickly out of the bushes iuto the water. On one 
occasion Baker killed one of them with his rifle, and it sank in 
eight feet of water ; but the water was so beautifully transpa- 
rent that it could be seen plainly lying at the bottom bleed 
ing. They once saw an elephant come down out of the forest 
to bathe. At another time, fourteen of those majestic animals 
were seen disporting themselves in a sandy bay, throwing jets 
of water in all directions. On another occasion they passed a 
waterfall, 1,000 feet high, made by the river Kaligiri, which 
rises in the swamp which turned them out of their way on 
leaving M'rooli. 

Such were the sights of their voyage, but at the same time, 
it was not in all respects a pleasant one. They were both still 
suffering from fever, and they were cramped together in this 
narrow boat, under a low awning of bullock's hide. At night 
they camped on the shore. Besides, the weather was bad. At 
one o'clock every day a violent tornado lashed the lake into fury, 
and placed their craft in imminent danger. In the course of 
their sailing explorations, they were nearly lost by this means, 
having been caught by the gale four miles from land, and obliged 
to run before it, being nearly swamped at times by the heavi- 
ness of tlie swell. They managed to reach the shore, however, 
but their boat was overturned on the beach, and all the live- 
stock was drowned ; and it was with difiiculty that they re- 
covered their boat. After thirteen days, when they had rowed 
for ninety miles, the lake began to contract, and vast reed-beds 
extended from the shore to the distance of a mile, there being 
a floating vegetation similar to that of the bridge which they 
were crossing when Mrs. Baker was struck down. Preferring 
to find a gap in this false shore to the ordinary method of walk- 
ing over it, he coasted the floating reeds for a mile, and came 
to a broad still channel, bounded with reeds on both sides. 
This was the embouchure of the Victoria Nile — the river which 
connects the Albert with the Victoria N' Yanza. Our informa- 
tion respecting this river warrants our concluding that the length 
of its course is about 250 miles. It was seen for the first fifty 
miles of its course, from the Ripon Falls to J^yamionjo, by 
Speke, in August, 1S62. The next sixty miles have not yet 
been verified. From twenty miles above Kamrasi's to fifteen 
miles below the Karuma Falls, a distance of ninety miles, it is 
tolerably known by Speke and Baker. The next forty miles are 
a succession of cataracts. The last few miles, from the Murchi- 
son Falls to the Great New Lake, have been explored by Baker, 



SIR SAMUEL BAKEB, 315 

so that of the supposed 250 miles of the course of the Victoria 
Nile, only about 50 require verifying. And the next great 
question in regard to the • Albert N' Yanza will be — has it not 
other great affluents besides this one, and, if so, what and 
where are they ? That many considerable affluents flow into 
the Albert Lake there is no doubt. The two waterfalls seen by 
telescope upon the western shore from the Blue Mountains 
must be most important streams, or they could not be distin- 
guished at so great a distance as fifty or sixty miles, but the 
natives all declared that there were many streams, varying in 
size, which descended the mountains upon all sides into the 
general reservoir. 

They found the mouth of the Victoria Nile, still water, and 
about half a mile wide. The same river had been seen at 
Karuma, boiling and tearing along a rocky course, and now it 
entered the lake as still water! They had heard voices for 
some time on the other side of the rushes, and they now found 
a number of natives who had arrived to meet them with the 
chief of Magungo, and their own guide Rabonga, who had been 
sent in advance with the riding-oxen from Yacovia. The water 
was very shallow, and the natives rushed in and dragged the 
canoes over the mud to the land. The travellers had been so 
entirely hidden on the lake on the other side of the reed-bank, 
that they had not been able to see the eastern or Magungo shore, 
and they now found themselves in a delightful spot under the 
shade of several enormous trees, on firm sandy and rocky 
ground, while the country rose in a rapid incline to the town 
of Magungo, about a mile distant, on an elevated ridge. 

They found the riding-oxen in good order, and were in- 
vited to wait under a tree till the presents of the headman 
should be delivered. By and by a number of people arrived 
from the village, bringing a goat, fowls, eggs, sour milk, and 
fresh butter. The chief was delighted with a present of a 
quantity of beads; and they were led up the hill towards Ma- 
gungo. The day was beautifully clear. The soil was sandy 
and poor ; but the road was clean and hard ; and, after the 
many days' boating, they enjoyed the walk, as well as the 
splendid view that lay before them when they arrived at Ma- . 
gungo, and looked back upon the lake. They were now 250 
feet above the water-level. The general elevation of the coun- 
try seemed to be about 500 feet, for five or six miles, after 
which it descended by undulations. The mountains on the 
Mallegga side, with the lake in the foreground, were the most 
prominent objects, and formed the western boundaiy. There 



316 SIB SAMUEL BAKER. 

appeared a gap in the range, a few miles to the north, and the 
lake continued to the west, but much contracted, while the 
mountain range on the northern side of the gap proceeded to 
tlie north-east. Due north and north-east the country was a 
dead flat, and as far as the eye could reach was an expanse of 
bright green reeds marking the course of the Nile as it made 
its exit from the lake. The sheet of water at Magungo was 
about seventeen miles in width, and continued in a long strip 
or tail to the north, until it was lost in the flat valley of green 
rushes. The natives said that canoes could navigate the Nile 
from the lake to the Madi country — there being no cataracts 
for a long distance, but that both the Madi and Koshi were 
hostile, and tliat the current in the river was so strong that if 
the canoe should descend from the lake, it could not return 
without many rowers. They pointed out the country of the 
Koshi on the west bank of the Nile, at its exit from the lake ; 
and it included the mountains that bordered the river. The 
small countr}^ M'Caroli, joined Mallegga, and continued to the 
west, tovvards the Makkarika. The men here positively refused 
to take Baker down the Nile to the Madi, as they said the peo- 
ple were their enemies, and would kill them on their return 
when he would not be with them. 

The exit of the Nile from the lake was plain enough, at a 
distance of within eighteen miles of Magungo. Baker had a 
very strong desire to descend the Nile in canoes from its exit 
with his own men as boatmen, and thus in a short time to reach 
the cataracts in the Madi country ; there to forsake the canoes 
and all his baororacce, and to march direct to Gondokoro with 
only his guns and ammunition. He knew from native report 
that the Nile was navigable as far as the Madi country to 
about Miani's tree, which Speke had laid down by astronomical 
observation in lat. 3"^ 34'. This would be only seven days' 
march from Gondokoro, and by such a direct course he esti- 
mated that he should be sure to arrive in' time for the boats 
to Khartooin. But he had promised Speke that he would 
explore most thoroughly the doubtful portion of the Victoria 
Nile Kiver, which he had been obliged to omit from Karuma 
Falls to the lake. He was himself confused at the dead-water 
junction ; and, although he knew that the natives must be right, 
lie was determined to sacrifice every other wish in order to ful- 
fil his promise, and thus to settle the Nile question satisfacto- 
rily. That the Nile flowed out of the lake he had heard, and 
had confirmed the fact by actual inspection. From Magungo 
he looked upon the countries Koshi and Madi, through which 



SIR SAMUEL BAKER. 317 

it flowed, and these countries he must actually pass through 
and again meet the Nile before he could reach Gondokoro. 
The only part to be at present verified was the River Somer- 
set, or Victoria Nile, between the lake and the Karuma Falls 
The chief of Magungo and all the natives assured hiin that the 
broad channel of dead water at his feet was positively the 
brawling river which he had crossed below the Karuma Falls, 
l)ut he could not understand how so fine a body of water as that 
liad appeared could possil)ly enter the Albert Lake as dead 
■water. The guide and natives laughed at his unbelief, and de- 
clared that it was dead-w^ater for a considerable distance from 
the junction with the lake, but that a great waterfall rushed down 
from the mountain, and that beyond that fall the river was 
merely a succession of cataracts tliroughout the entire distance 
of about six days' march to Karuma Falls. 

Having resolved to explore the Victoria Nile as far as those 
falls, and the boats being ready, Baker took leave of the chief, 
leaving him an acceptable present of beads, and descended the 
hill to the river, thankful at having so far successfully termi- 
nated the ex})edition as to have traced the lake to the important 
point of Magungo, which had been his clue to the discovery 
even so far away in time and place as the distant country of 
Latooka. Both Baker and his wife were very weak and ill, lie 
endeavorino' to assist his wife, and she doino: her best to assist 
him. Keaching the boats they started at once and made good 
progress till the evening. Tlie river seemed to be entirely de- 
void of current, and had an average breadth of about five hun- 
dred yards. Before lialting for the night, he had a severe at- 
tack of fever, and was carried on shore on a litter, perfectly 
unconscious, to a village in the neighborhood of their landing- 
place. At daybreak, lie was too weak to stand, and both he 
and his wife were carried down to the canoes. Many of the 
men were also suffering from fever, the malaria of tlie dense 
masses of floating vegetation being most poisonous. At about 
ten miles from Magungo the river rapidly narrowed to two hun- 
dred and fifty yards. The great fiats of rush banks were left 
behind them, and they en1;ered a channel between higli ground 
on both sides, the hills l)eing covered with forest. There was 
not even yet, however, any perceptible stream. The water was 
clear and very deep. They halted and slept on a mud-bank 
close to the shore. On waking next morning, the river was 
covered with a thick fog ; and as, before arousing his men, 
Baker lay watching the fog as it was slowly being lifted from 
the water, he was struck by the fact that the little green water- 



318 'fi'iS SAMUEL BAKER. 

plants, like floating cabbages {Pistia stratiotes, L.), were cer- 
tainly moving, altliongli very slowly, to the west. He imme- 
diately jumped up and examined them more carefully ; there 
was no doubt about it ; they were travelling towards the Al- 
bert Lake. They were now about eighteen miles in a direct 
line from Magungo, and there was a current in the river, which, 
though slight, was perceptible. They had laid themselves 
down witli their clothes on ; their toilette was therefore the 
more easily arranged, and they at .once entered their canoe 
and gave orders to start. 

As they proceeded, the river gradually narrowed to about 
one hundred and eight}^ yards ; and when the paddles ceased 
working, they could distinctly hear the roar of water. The 
roar of the fall was extremely loud, and after hard pulling for 
a couple of hours, during which time the velocity of the stream 
increased, they arrived at a few deserted fishing-huts, at a point 
where the river made a slight turn. There was here a most 
extraordinary show of crocodiles ; they lay like logs of timber 
close together, and upon one bank they counted twenty-seven 
of large size, and every basking-place was crowded in a similar 
manner. From the time that they had fairly entered the 
river, it had been confined by somewhat precipitous heights on 
either side, but at this point they were much higher and bolder. 
From the roar of the water there was reason to believe that the 
fall would be in sight if they turned the corner at the bend of 
the river ; and he desired the boatmen to row as fast as 
they could. , They objected to this at first, wishing to stop at 
the deserted village, and contending that, as this was to be the 
limit of their journey, further progress was impossible. " How- 
ever," he says, " I explained that I merely wished to see the 
fall, and they rowed immediately up the stream, which was 
now strong against us. Upon rounding the corner, a magnifi- 
cent sight burst suddenly upon us. On either side of the river 
were beautifull}^ wooded clift's rising abruptly to a height of 
about SOU feet; rocks were jutting out from the intensely 
green foliage ; and rushing through a gap that cleft the rock 
exactly before us, the river, contracted from a grand stream, 
was pent up in a narrow gorge of scarcely fifty yards in width ; 
roaring furiously through the rock-bound pass, it plunged in one 
leap of about 120 feet perpendicular into a dark abyss below. 

" The fall of water was snow-white, which had a superb 
effect as it contrasted with the dark cliffs that walled the river, 
while the graceful palms of tbe tropics and wild plantains 
perfected the beauty of the view. This was the greatest 



SIE SAMUEL BAKER. 319 

waterfall of tlie Nile, and in honor of the distinguished Presi- 
dent of the Royal Geographical Society, I named it the Mur- 
chison Falls, as the most important object throughout the en- 
tire course of the river." 

The boatmen were promised a present of beads to induce 
them to approach the fall as close as possible, and they suc- 
ceeded in briniT^inof the canoe to within about three hundred 
yards of the base, but the power of the current and the force 
of the whirlpools prevented their going nearer. A sandbank 
on their left was literally covered with crocodiles, which had 
no fear of the canoe till it came within twenty yards of them, 
and then they slowly crept into the water, all except one — an 
enormous fellow who lazily lagged behind, and who dropped 
dead immediately as a bullet struck him in the brain. The 
boatmen were alarmed at the unexpected report of the rifle, 
and sought shelter in the body of the canoe, not one of them 
using a paddle, and nothing would induce them to attend to 
the boat, especially as a second shot had been fired as a quietus, 
and they could not tell how often the alarming noise might be 
repeated. They were therefore at the mercy of the powerful 
stream, and the canoe was whisked round by the eddy and 
carried against a thick bank of high reeds. They had scarcely 
touclied it when a tremendous commotion took place in the 
rushes, and in an instant a great bull hippopotamus charged 
the canoe, and with a severe shock striking the bottom he 
lifted them half out of the water. The natives who were in 
the bottom of the boat positively yelled witJi terror, not know- 
ing whether the shock might not in some way be connected 
with the dreaded report of tlie rifle. 

A few kicks bestowed by Baker's angry men upon the re- 
cumbent boatmen restored them to the perpendicular, and the 
first thing necessary was to hunt for a lost paddle which was 
floating down the rapid current. The hippopotamus, proud of 
having distui'bed them, raised his head to take a last view of 
his enemy, but sunk too rapidly to permit a shot. Crocodile 
heads of enormous size were to be seen in all directions, and it 
would have been good sport to these monsters if the bull hippo- 
potamus had been successful in his attempt to capsize the canoe. 
Baker prevailed upon the boatmen to keep the canoe steady 
while he made a sketch of the Murchison Falls, which being 
completed they drifted rapidly down to the landing-place at 
the deserted fishing-village, and bade adieu to the navigation of 
the lake and river of Central Africa. 

Four men were noT sent with the boatmen and the interpre- 



320 SIR SAMUEL BAKER 

ter to the nearest village to ascertain whether the guide Ha- 
bonga had arrived with the riding-oxen, as the future trav- 
elling of the party was to be by land, and the limit of tlieir 
navigation must have been well known to him. After some 
hours the men returned with a message from the headman of 
the village to the effect that tlie oxen were there, but that the 
guide had remained at Magungo. The animals should be 
brouglit to them tliat evening, however, together w4th porters 
to convey the luggage. The}^ started next day, but not until 
the afternoon, having had to await the arrival of the headman, 
who v/as to escort them. The oxen had been bitten by the 
tsetse and looked wretched. Sooner or later they should lose 
the whole of them. The travellers themselves were quite a 
match in appearance to their animals. They continued their 
journey, being now above Murchison Falls, the water of which 
they heard roaring beneath them. Having passed the night at 
a village which belonged to the headman who accompanied 
them, they proceeeded on a route parallel to the river, and 
continued for a day's march, keeping near to the Victoria Nile 
stream, crossing many ravines and torrents, till suddenly turn- 
ing to their left they arrived at the bank from which they 
were to be transported to an island named Patooan, wdiere a 
chief resided. Baker himself had been obliged to w^alk, his ox 
not being fit to carry him ; his wife liad been borne on a litter. 
It was already dark wlien they reached the river, and after 
mucli hallooing a canoe was brought from the island, which 
was not more than fifty yards from the mainland, and they 
were ferried across. Mrs. Baker was ill of a sudden attack of 
fever, and was carried, Baker knew not whither, by some of 
his men, while he himself, exhausted with the same fell disease, 
lay down on the w^et ground utterl}^ exhausted. The men who 
liad carried his wife to the village returned by and by with 
firebrands, and he managed to follow them back, with the aid 
of a long stick on which he rested with both hands. After a 
walk through a forest of high trees, for about a quarter of a 
mile, he arrived at the village, where he was shown a misera- 
ble Imt, through the roof of which the stars were visible. In 
this lay his wife, very ill, and he fell down upon some straw. 
About an hour later, a violent thunder-storm broke over them, 
and their hut was perfectly flooded. Of course their night 
was a very wretched one. 

The island of Patooan is about half a mile long by 150 yards 
wide, and is one of the many masses of rocks that choke the 
river between Karuma Falls and the great Murchison Cataract. 



Sm SAMUEL BAKER 321 

The rock is entirely of gray granite, from the clefts of which 
grow beautiful forest-trees, so thickly that the entire island is 
in shade. In the middle of this secluded spot there was a con- 
siderable village, thickly inhabited ; the population of the 
mainland having fled from their dwellings, and taken refuge 
upon the numerous islands of the river, on account of the war 
which was raging between Rionga and Kararasi. There is a 
succession of islands from the east of Patooan to within a 
march of Karuma Falls. These were at this time in the pos- 
session of Kionga, and a still more powerful chief and ally, 
Fowooka, who were the deadly enemies of Kamrasi. 

The headman now informed them that it would be impossi- 
ble to proceed along the bank of the river to Karuma, as that 
entire line of country was in possession of the enemy. This 
was an intimation, plainly enough, that the party could not 
procure porters. But the exploration was completed, and it 
was by no means necessary to continue the journey from Pa- 
tooan to Karuma. Baker had followed the Somerset or Vic- 
toria Nile from its junction with the lake at Magungo to this 
point; it was here a beautiful river, precisely similar in char- 
acter to that which distinguished it at the point at which he 
had left it at Karuma, and the party was now within thirty 
miles of that place, and about eighteen from the point opposite 
Pionga's island, where they had iirst reached the river on their 
arrival from the north. The direction of the stream was per- 
fectly in accordance with the observations made at Karuma 
and at Magungo — running from east to west. The river was 
here about one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards wide, 
but much obstructed with rocks and islands ; its current was at 
the rate of about four miles an hour, and the rapids and falls 
w^ere so numerous that the roar of water had been unin- 
terrupted throughout the whole march from Murchison Falls. 
The altitude of the river at Patooan was ascertained to be 
3,195 feet ; thus from that point to the level of the Albert 
Lake at Magungo, there Avas a fall of four hundred and 
seventy-five feet — this difference being on account of the dead 
state of the water near the lake, almost entirely furnished by 
the river between Patooan and the foot of Murchison Falls : 
the latter being at the lowest estimate one hundred and twenty 
feet, there were thus left three hundred and fifty-five feet to be 
accounted for between Patooan and the top of the falls. As 
the ledges of rock throughout the course of the river formed a 
series of steps, this was a natural difference in altitude which 
suggested the correctness of the observations. 
21 



322 Sin SAMUEL BAKEU. 

At the level of tlie river below Karuma Falls he had 
measured the altitude at 3,996 feet above the sea-level. There 
was thus a fall from that point to Patooan of 801 feet, and a 
total of 1,2Y6 feet in the descent of the river from Karuma to 
the Albert N'Yanza. These measurements being carefully 
taken, corroborated the opinion suggested by the natural ap- 
pearance of the river, which was a mere succession of cataracts 
throughout its westerly course from Karuma. These observa- 
tions were especially interesting from the fact that when Baker 
had met Speke at Gondokoro, the latter was much perplexed 
concerning the extraordinary difference in his observation be- 
tween the altitude of the river at Karuma Falls, lat. 2° 15', 
and at Gebel Kookoo in the Madi country, lat. 3° 34', the 
point at which he subsequently met the river. He Jciiew tliat 
both rivers were the Nile — the one before it had joined the 
lake, and the other after its exit ; but he had been told that 
the river was navigable from Gebel Kookoo, straight up to the 
junction of the lake : thus there could be no great difference 
m altitude between the lake and the Nile where he met it. 
But he found so enormous a difference in his observations be- 
tween the river at Karuma and at Gebel Kookoo that he con- 
cluded there must be a fall in it between Karuma and the lake 
of at least 1,000 feet. By careful measurements Baker proved 
the closeness of Speke's reasoning and observation, by finding a 
fall of only 275 feet more than he had anticipated. From Ka- 
ruma to the Albert Lake (although he had not visited it), 
Speke had marked upon his map, " river falls 1,000 feet," and 
by actual measurement Baker proved it to be 1,275 feet. From 
M'rooli to Atada, or Karuma Falls, there is a fall in the river 
of about one foot in the mile, and the stream is navigable. 
The latitude of the island of Patooan, by observation, was 2° 
16' : they were thus at that point, due west of Magungo, and 
east of Karuma Falls. 

They were prisoners on the island of Patooan, inasmuch as 
they could not procure pOrters at any price to remove their 
effects. They had lost all their riding-oxen within a few days ; 
these having succumbed to the files, and the only aninial alive 
was a little bull which had always carried the boy Saat, and it 
was already half dead. It was the 8th of April, and within a 
few days the boats upon which thej depended for their return 
to civilization would assuredly quit Gondokoro. Baker accord- 
ingly offered the natives all the beads he had (about fifty 
pounds) and the whole of his baggage if they would carry the 
party to Sliooa direct. They were in perfect despair : both of 



Sm SAMUEL BAKEE. 323 

them were completely worn out with fatigue and fever, and 
certain death seemed to stare them in the face if they remained 
in so unhealthy a spot ; and worse than deatli was the idea of 
their losing the boats, and being compelled to remain prisoners 
for another year in that dreadful land. Either one such result 
or the other must inevitably happen if they did not hurry, with- 
out delay, direct to Gondokoro. With their usual cunning, the 
natives at length offered to convey them to Shooa, provided that 
they were paid the beads in advance. The boats were prepared 
to ferry them across the river, but Baker fortunately discovered 
the treacherous design of these people to place them in the un- 
inhabited wilderness on the north side, and leave them there to 
die of hunger. These heartless savages had conspired together 
to land the party, but to immediately return with the boats 
after having thus got rid of the incubus of their guests. 

The travellers were now in a great dilemma; but they were 
resolved not to remain on the island, as they suspected that the 
boats might be taken away and that thus they should be kept 
prisoners. Baker therefore ordered his men to take the canoes 
and ferry the party to the mainland from which they had come. 
Upon hearing this order, the headman offered to carry them to 
a village and there await orders from Kamrasi as to whether 
they were to be forwarded to Shooa or not. They were there- 
fore ferried across, and both of them, unable to walk, were 
carried by the natives for about three hoars, at the end of 
which time they arrived at a deserted v«illage, half of which was 
in ashes, it having been plundered and burnt by the enemy. 
They spent the night in an old hut in pouring rain. Fearing 
that the natives might desert them, he gave orders to his own 
men to disarm them, and retain their weapons as a security ; 
but on the following morning not a native was to be seen — 
every man of them had absconded, without their spears and 
shields — there were neither inhabitants nor provisions in the 
place, and the whole country was a wilderness of rank grass 
which hemmed them in on all sides. He directed his men to 
search among the ruined villages for buried corn, and, after 
some hours, assisted by the woman from Obbo, Bacheeta, who 
being a native of the country was acquainted with the ways of 
the people, they discovered a hollow place, by sounding tlie 
earth with a stick, and upon digging, found a granary of the 
seed known as " tullaboon," which was a great prize, and 
which, although mouldy and bitter, would keep them from 
starving. They also discovered three varieties of plants, grow- 
ing in profusion ; which, when boiled, were a good substitute 



•*♦ 



324 SIE SAMUEL BAKEB, 

for spinach. Their dinner thus consisted daily of a mess of 
black porridge, that no English pig would have touched, and a 
large dish of spinach. Baker says, " ' Better a dinner of herbs 
where love is,' etc., often occurred to me ; but I am not sure 
that I was quite of that opiuion after a fortnight's grazing upon 
spinach." They also, by and by, found a species of wild thyme, 
which made a tolerable substitute for tea. Exhausted by fever 
and the effects of the climate, and subsisting upon this wretched 
fare, the two travellers lay in their hut, unable to walk, for 
nearly two months. Their men made long excursions through 
the country to endeavor to purchase provisions, but in the two 
months they procured only two kids— the country was deserted 
on account of the war. Every day the boy Saat and the 
woman Bacheeta sallied out and conversed with the inhabi- 
tants of the different islands on the river, which was within two 
miles of them ; and sometimes, but very rarely, they returned with 
a fowl, which event, when it did happen, caused great rejoicing. 

Gondokoro was now out of the question ; and perfectly re- 
signed to their fate, they were sure that they must be buried in 
Chopi. Baker therefore wrote instructions in his journal, in 
case of death, and instructed his headman to deliver his maps, 
observations, and papers to the English Consul at Khartoom. 
This was his only care, as he feared that, if he should die, all 
liis labor might be lost. He had no fear for his wife, for she 
was quite as bad as he, and if one should die the other would 
certainly follow; and indeed they had agreed it would be 
better so, than that if he were gone, she should fall into the 
hands of Kamrasi. They had struggled to win, and they 
thanked God that they had won ; and if death were to be the 
price, at all events they were at the gaol, and should have rest, 
— there would be no more suffering, no fever, no long journey 
before them, which in their weak state was an infliction ; " the 
only wish was to lay down the burthen." 

this village in which so melancholy a season was spent is in 
Kamrasi's country. After a time, the travellers came to under- 
stand that they had been deserted by the Fatooan men by Kam- 
rasi's orders. He was at war, and wanted Baker with his men 
and his guns to join him, being assured that, if he did, they 
would gain the victory. The abandonment and the starvation 
were measures of coercion by means of which the king believed 
he could realize his wish. Kamrasi, it was said, was not more 
than thirty miles distant. At the end of two months, therefore. 
Baker sent his vakeel or headman, with a native as a guide, as 
the bearer of a message to him. He demanded that an escort 



Sm SAMUEL BAKER. 325 

should be sent for him, and after some days the absconded 
guide, Rabongo, appeared with a number of men, but without 
the vakeel. He brought two pieces of printed paper with him, 
torn out of a book which had been left by Speke, as evidence 
that the messenger had seen the king. Next morning the two 
sufferers were carried forward on litters. Arriving at a village, 
Kisoona, they found that ten of Ibrahim's Turks had been de- 
tained there as hostages. Baker's men and they fired salutes of 
welcome and greeting, and great was their rejoicing at meeting 
again. Tiie king sent a substantial present, and his brotlier, 
who had formerly represented him, and pretended to be Kam- 
rasi, paid a visit on the following morning. Baker sent the 
king a present of powder and caps, and other articles, explain- 
ing that he was quite out of stores, having been kept so long in 
the country. M'Qambi, the brother, appeared again in the 
evening, with a message from the king, to the effect that Baker 
was his greatest friend, that he could not think of taking any- 
thing from him — he desired nothing — but he would be much 
obliged if he would give him the " little double rifle that he 
always carried, and his watch, and his compass ! " They were 
quietly but iirmly refused, and an assurance given that no 
more presents were wanted from the king. Being entreated to 
visit Kamrasi, Baker consented; but he was in rags, and he 
knew that dress has always a certain effect even in Africa. He 
happened to possess a full-dress Highland suit which he liad 
worn when he had lived in Perthshire many years before. 
This he had treasured for great occasions like the present. He 
therefore appeared at eight o'clock the next morning, attired in 
kilt, sporran, and Glengarry bonnet ; and to the utter amaze- 
ment of the crowd, the ragged-looking object that had arrived 
in Kisoona, now issued from the obscure hut, with plaid and 
kilt of Athole tartan. He was immediately shouldered by a 
number of men, and attended by ten of his own people as an 
escort, he was carried to the camp of the great Kamrasi. It 
was the real man this time. 

Kamrasi was a remarkably fine man, tall and well-propor- 
tioned, with a handsome face of a dark-brown color, but with 
a peculiarly sinister expression. He was beautifully clean, and 
instead of wearing the dark cloth common among the people, 
he was dressed in a tine mantle of black and white goat-skins 
as soft as chamois leather. His people sat on the ground at 
some distance from his throne : when they approached to ad- 
dress him on an}?- subject, they crawled upon their hands and 
knees to his feet, and touched the ground with their foreheads. 



326 SIB SAMUEL BAKER 

Aware of the practice of the court, Balcer had provided him 
self with a stool. 

It was not long before the king, true to his natural instincts, 
commenced begging, and being much struck with the Highland 
costume, he demanded it as a proof of friendship. The watch, 
the compass, and the double Fletcher rifle were again asked 
for, but all were steadily refused. Baker was carried back to 
Kisoona. He could not now quit the country for some consid- 
erable time, and therefore constructed " a comfortable little 
hut," surrounded by a courtyard strongly fenced, in which he 
arranged a Rakooba, or open shed, in which to sit during the 
hottest hours of the day. He had procured a cow from Kam- 
rasi, which gave plenty of milk, and every week the king sent 
an ox and a quantity of flour, and the whole party soon exhib- 
ited signs that they had now escaped from starvation. Of 
course his majesty took good care that he should be reimbursed 
by means of many demanded presents. He paid frequent 
visits to the dwelling of the traveller ; but by no means raised 
himself in the estimation of those whose hut he thus conde- 
scended to honor. Much disturbance, anxiety, and inconven- 
ience were occasioned by the war, in which Baker persistently 
refused to join. On one occasion, the enemy came near the 
encampment at which the party was living under the protec- 
tion of the king ; and Baker then hoisted the British flag on a 
staff which he had erected in his courtyard, and declared Kam- 
rasi to be his friend, and that if any one injured him or his 
people under that flag, he (Baker) would avenge the wrong. 
He would defend, but he would not attack ; and the foe re- 
treated. Kamrasi changed his camping ground, but Baker re- 
fused to follow, and being now left alone with his own party, 
he, with much difficulty and no small danger on account of 
these liostilities, moved onwards on his way to Gondokoro, and 
home. 

Some months were passed at Shooa, on the way. He found 
that the Turks had discovered a new country called Tira, about 
thirty miles from Shooa. The natives were reported as very 
friendly, and their country was extremely fertile, and rich in 
ivory. Many of their people had returned with the Turks and 
were located in their camp. But they were also at war with 
their neighbors, and hence it became still more difficult to pro- 
cure porters for Gondokoro. 

But the hour of deliverance from this lengthened sojourn iu 
Central Africa was at hand — it was the month of February, 
1865; and the boats would now be at Gondokoro. The Turks 



sin SAMUEL BAKER 327 

had packed their ivory. Baker counted their loads— six 
hundred and forty in number, fifty pounds each, and equal to 
about 9,630^. when delivered in Egypt — a good result from 
their twelve months' campaign. Starting on their journey, 
they were attaclvcd several times by the natives, who sliot 
poisoned arrows at them, but both the traders and the travellers 
escaped unharmed. Approaching Gondokoro, Baker mounted 
the English flag on a flue straight bamboo with a lance-head, 
and marched forward. Never had the oxen travelled so fast 
as on that morning, and the men in good spirits followed at a 
double quick pace. " 1 see the masts of vessels ! " exclaimed 
the boy Saat. " Hurrah ! " said Baker : " three cheers for old 
England and the sources of the Nile ! Hurrah ! " and the 
men joined him in the lusty cheer. " Now for a salute ! Fire 
away all your powder if you like, my lads, and let the people 
know that we're alive ! " Presently they saw the Turkish flag 
emerge from Gondokoro, at about a quarter of a mile distant, 
followed by a number of the traders' people, who waited to re- 
ceive them. This terminated the expedition. But they were 
bitterly disappointed ! There were awaiting them no boats, no 
letters, no supplies, nor any intelligence of friends or the civil- 
ized world. They had long since been given up as dead by 
the inhabitants of Khartoom, and by all who understood the 
difficulties and dangers of the country. They were told that 
some had suggested that they might possibly have gone to Zan- 
zibar, but the general opinion was that they had all been 
killed. They had looked forward to arriving at Gondokoro as 
at a home ; they had expected that a boat would have been 
sent on the chance of finding them, and money had been left in 
the hands of an agent in Khartoom — but there was literally 
nothing to receive them, and they were helpless. 

The plague was raging at Khartoom, and fifteen thousand 
people had died. It had even reached Gondokoro, and>people 
died daily. They succeeded at length in procuring a boat, 
and left for Khartoom. Poor Saat, who had been devoted and 
true, was seized by the plague and died on the way. They 
laid his remains, in much sorrow, on the desert shore. They 
found letters awaiting them at Khartoom, which cheered 
them ; but the people of the place had indeed given them up 
for lost. On the 1st of July they sailed from Khartoom for 
Berber. They were nearly lost at the passage of the cataracts, 
but saved their lives and their papers, and much of their 
trophies and goods. Their voyage lasted twenty -four days. 
Arriving at Souakim, after a fortnight's waiting, they found 



328 51^ SAMUEL BAKER 

a steam transport which had brought troops about to return 
immediately to Suez ; and availing themselves of this opportu- 
nity, they reached that port in five days. Landing from the 
steamer, they once more found themselves in an English hotel. 
" What an Elysium ! The beds had sheets and pillow-cases / " 
neither of which the travellers had seen for years. 

Reaching Cairo, Baker received letters from England, which 
had been waiting at the British Consulate ; and the first he 
opened informed him that the Koyal Geographical Society had 
awarded him the Victoria gold medal, at a time when they 
were not aware whether he was alive or dead, and when the 
success of his expedition was unknown. " This appreciation 
of my exertions," he says, " was the warmest welcome I could 
have received on my first entrance into civilization after so 
many years of savagedom : it rendered the completion of the 
Nile sources doubly grateful, as I had fulfilled the expectations 
that the Geographical Society had so generously expressed by 
the presentation of the medal before my task was done." On 
his arrival in England he was received with much enthusiasm, 
^nd the honor ox knighthood was conferred upon him — as it 
would have been conferred on Speke but for his premature 
death. 



For two or three years after his return from the exploration 
of the Albert Nyanza, Sir Samuel Baker remained in England 
■engaged in literary pursuits; but since that time he has again 
been in the wilds of Central Africa in the region of his earlier 
discoveries, and has again returned. This time he went at the 
head of a large armed force, organized and commissioned by 
the Viceroy oi Egypt. In order to understand the character 
rand object of this famous expedition, it will be necessary to 
indicate the state of things out of which it grew. 

The discoveries of Burton, Speke, and Baker, had naturally 
'directed public attention to Central Africa, and especial inter- 
est was felt in the hopeful view they took of the possible 
development of that distant land. They showed for one thing, 
that instead of the sterile desert whicli had hitherto occupied 
such a large space on the map. Central Africa was a magnifi- 
cent country, rising to a mean level of five thousand feet above 
the sea. Erom the elevated plateaux mountains rose to various 
altitudes ; the climate was healthy, the soil extremely fertile, 
the landscape very beautiful, the rain-fall extended over nine 
or ten months of the year, the country was well-watered by 



SIE SAMUEL BAKER. 329 

numerous streams, the population was in many districts large^ 
and where the slavers had not penetrated, the natives were 
well-disposed. There were all the desiderata for a great for- 
ward movement. The Nile was navigable for large vessels as 
far as Gondokoro — one thousand fonr hundred and fifty miles 
b}' river from Khartoom. The forests on the banks of the 
stream would supply fuel free of expense for the steamers re- 
qiiired. The supply of ivory appeared to be inexhaustible. 
Valuable fibres existed, anc> the preparation of these appeared 
to be understood by the natives. The highlands were especially 
adapted for the cultivation of coffee, while the lowlands were 

geculiarly suitable for cotton, which is now grown by the 
hillook tribe in considerable quantities. 

Unfortunately this beautiful country was subject to a blight, 
which, as the explorers pointed out, had resulted largely from 
its discovery by Egypt. Under the pretence of trading in 
ivory, immense numbers of slave-hunters from Soudan had 
organized themselves as piratical bands to pillage the natives, 
and kidnap the women and children to be sold in Khartoom as 
slaves. Baker estimates that not less than 50,000 slaves have for 
years been annually carried down the Nile, closely packed in 
small vessels of about fifty tons, to the number of 250 or more 
in each boat. The horrors of the traffic have been frightful. 

The Khedive of Eg}^pt, instigated, perhaps, by the growing 
public sentiment on the subject in Europe, determined to sup- 
press this shocking iniquity. With this object in view, he 
communicated with Baker, and laid before him a plan for the 
absolute eradication of the slave-trade in the Nile region. 
The first step which was considered necessary, was the estab- 
lishment of a government which would exhibit the authority 
of Egypt in those countries which had hitherto been devastated 
by the slave-hunters. 

Baker entered into this enterprise with enthusiasm. He was 
commissioned Pasha by the Khedive, and furnished with 1 ,600 
Egyptian soldiers and all necessary supplies ; and accompanied 
by his wife, his nephew. Lieutenant Baker, and seven English 
engineers, left Cairo in 1870 for Gondokoro. "When the ex- 
pedition reached the latter place it comprised an active military 
force of 1,200 men. The troops were occupied in building a 
station and erecting magazines for the vast amount of stores 
when the Bari war broke out. This tribe had been incited by 
the slave-hunters to resist the expedition. The population, 
which was very warlike, numbered about 1,500,000, and they 
entered into an alliance with a neighboring tribe, with which 



330 SIR SAMUEL BAKER. 

they had lately been at war, for the purpose ot making a joint 
attack upon the station, the only protection for which yet exist- 
ing was a slight fence of tliorns. Out of two regiments Baker 
formed a perfect corps d'^elite^ amongst whom, by the force of 
example i^nd by tlie establishment of a code of honor, lie pro- 
duced an admirable esprit de corps. This little band of forty- 
eight, which he called " The Forty Thieves," was a,rmed with 
Snider rifles, and with them he held a separate station one and 
a half miles from the main station 'on the banks of the Nile. 

At about two o'clock in the morning an attack was made* 
upon the chief station. The sentries had challenged and 
had fired at the sneaking scouts, and the natives then used 
all their tactics to deceive the troops. At a distance of about 
half a mile their drums and horns were sounded; in the 
meantime their main body was still advancing stealthily in 
the darkness, until suddenly they made a rush upon the sta- 
tion. Under the heavy fire of the garrison they w^ere re- 
pulsed ; but this attack was the signal for general hostilities 
throughout the country. Baker arranged strong parties of 
patrols — nevertheless every night was disturbed by the firing 
of the sentries upon the enemy's scouts. He entrenched 
the camp at head-quarters, and constructed a fort at his own 
private station, w^ith ditches and earthworks. At last he 
determined to put a stop to the night attacks. He posted 
small parties of five men each evening under cover oi. the 
white ant-hills, or any other cover that could be found. In 
this manner he guarded every approach to the station outside 
the beat of the patrols where the enemy would never expect 
a guard. For this night work he substituted for the Sniders, 
muskets with eight buckshot rammed down above the bullet. 
ISTothing could be more successful. The natives came unawares 
upon the guards, who were thus concealed, and, as the posi- 
tions were changed every night, it was impossible for them 
to advance without being entrapped. Several of the natives 
were shot ; one was captured aud hanged on a tree the fol- 
lowing morning as a warning to the rest, and in a short- time 
not one native dared to disturb the camp. ' 

Finall}^ Baker started with 450 men, and passing through 
the Bari district into the open country there was some sharp 
work for the Sniders for a few days, after which the natives 
took to the mountains and forests. Hence he determined 
to explore not only the open country, but the bush to which 
the enemy, had retreated with their cattle and supplies. This, 
although very dense in some places, would usually allow the 



JSIE SAMUEL BAKER. 331 

advance of skirmishing-parties. In this way he succeeded 
in driving the enemy whom he had to encounter from their 
hiding-places, and he captured their cattle with the loss of 
only a few men during a month's campaign. 

Upon returning to head -quarters he found it necessary to 
commence operations upon the west bank of the Kile. " I 
had brought," he says, " twentj^-one Arab horses from Cairo ; 
and I would remark that wherever the country would admit 
of cavalry operations tliey should be always employed against 
savages. In the portions of Africa which I have visited, the 
natives have an extraordinary fear of horses, which, to them, 
are strange and dangerous animals. I have frequently 
charged with four or five horses, and once with only three, 
and have dispersed large numbers of natives and captured 
their cattle. Horses are invaluable, and when used up by 
hard work or sickness will more than have earned their cost," 
The Bari campaign had so far raised the prestige of the 
Snider company that their very appearance on the west 
bank of the river was suiScient to overawe tlie enemy. JBa- 
ker's force had been reduced by the return to Khartoom of 
600 men and officers. These people were discontented, as the 
object of the expedition, i.e., the suppression of the slave- 
trade, was hateful to them : many of the men were also suf- 
fering from severly ulcerated legs. Many of the black troops 
who remained had served witli Marshal Bazaine in Mexico, 
and were far superior to the Egyptian soldiers. 

The very sight of a red shirt, that being the garment wora 
by the Snider company, being sufficient to dismay the natives, 
Baker dressed all his troops in the same way, and pushed 
on towards the equator, intending to purge the new territory 
of the slave-hunters, who numbered about 1,100 men. and 
who were mostly Arabs of the Soudan. There were also 
many black soldiers who had deserted from the Government in 
Khartoom, and had settled in the employ of a firm entitled 
Agad and Co., which alone employed 2,500 slave-hunters in 
Central Africa. These 1,100 men were armed with rifles, 
muskets, double-barrelled guns, and were oilicered in imita- 
tion of the regular troops. They had endeavored to excite 
the natives against the government, though in some cases 
unsuccessfully, throughout the Upper Nile countries.. 

Arrived at the extreme limits of navigation of the Nile, 
jit the foot of the last cataracts, in N. lat. 4° 38', Baker found 
it impossible to make friends with the natives. He therefore 
left the ships with 150 men in charge of them^ and started 



332 Sm SAMUEL BAKER 

with 100 men for the country of the Lobore, there to hire 
transport and carriers to bring up the baggage from Gondo- 
koro. From that point the whole of the expedition for the 
annexation of Central Africa and the suppression of slavery 
numbered only 212 picked men. For four days he marched 
with the 100 men whom he took with him through the Lobore 
country without a shot being fired ; but in the meantime a 
general attack had been made upon the vessels, the Egyptian 
officer in command having of course neglected all the orders 
that were given him, and it was only after a severe contest 
resulting from disgraceful mismanagement that the enemy 
was repulsed. 

From Lobore, Baker marched to Fatiko, and thence to 
Masindi (in lat. 1° 45' N.), the capital of Kabba Rega, our 
old friend Kamrasi's successor. Here he found that the ivory 
and slave traders had spread all kinds of evil reports about his 
expedition, inflaming the native tribes against it. Kabba Rega 
had been told that Baker Pasha was coming at the head of an 
Egyptian army to take forcible possession of his country, and 
annex it to Egypt, with the view of exacting heavy taxes and 
tributes, and carrying away the people. It was accordingly 
agreed, between the traders and the Negro chiefs, to murder 
Baker if possible, and by every means to prevent the progress 
of the Egyptian soldiers. 

Shortly after he had arrived with a portion of his men at 
Masindi, the King, according to African custom, sent him a 
present of ten jars of pombe. This liquor was heavily charged 
with poison, and all who partook of it were suddenly seized 
with severe illness. But by administering strong antidotes, the 
poison was neutralized in every case, and no lives were lost. 
Baker then despatched some of his officers as messengers to 
demand why the poisoned beer had been sent into his camp ; 
but as soon as they entered his village, Kabba Bega ordered them 
to be killed, and they were all murdered in cold blood. War 
was then proclaimed ; the chief beating his great drums, and 
ordering a levy of ten thousand warriors. A large body of 
them attacked Baker, who had only about a hundred Egyptian 
troops with him. These men were all greatly fatigued with 
the long journey into the interior, and some of them were still 
suffering from the effects of the poisoned drink. It was, there- 
fore, necessary that he should beat a retreat before the swarms 
of enemies assailing him, and he retired after burning his camp 
and heavy baggage. During seven days of great danger and 
hardship, the backward march of the Egyptians was sorely 



SIM SAMUEL BAKER. 33a 

harassed, and four or ^ve of his men were left dead on the 
route. At the end of this perilous week, they came to the 
province of Rionga, a chief hostile to Kabba Eega, and welcome 
assistance was then obtained. The pursuit had already been 
abandoned ; but with a view to punish Kabba Hega, it was ar- 
ranged that Rionga should supply 2,000 armed men, and that 
these with a portion of Baker's own force should return toward 
Masindi and attack the enemy. Baker promised that if this 
expedition was successful, Rionga should be appointed governor 
of his own and Kabba Rega's district in the name of the Khedive 
of Egypt. With the remainder of his men Baker then turned 
northwards, but in passing through one of the villages w^as fired 
npon by the slave-traders, who were located there. He thus 
lost thirty of his soldiers. But the attack was successfully re- 
pelled — one hundred and forty of the slavers' party were slain, 
and many prisoners were taken. The captives declared that 
the orders of their masters and of the chiefs friendly to them 
were to kill " the Nazarene " — meaning Baker — wherever and 
whenever they could. 

Baker returned to Fatiko to see what had become of the gar- 
rison, whom he found all safe. " Here," he says, " a final at- 
tack was made npon the expedition by the slave-hunters, who, 
however, were utterly routed with great, loss, and from that 
time the whole of the natives continued in the most friendly 
manner to help the expedition, and slavery was entirely sup- 
pressed." 

This chastisement cleared the whole country around Gondo- 
koro, and down towards Kabba Rega's territory. After a season 
of repose, which was imperatively needed. Baker began systemati- 
cally to organize the districts which were in his possession. 
He made Fatiko the chief town of the new territory, and ap- 
pointed superintendents at the other stations. Before long the 
natives settled peacefully under the new government, and ap- 
peared well satisfied with the safety and quiet which it afforded. 
The light tribute exacted of a basket of bread and a bundle of 
grass per month for each hut was paid willingly and regularly ; 
and when Sir Samuel went finally northward in 1873, having 
completed his task, the people of Fatiko gave him the heartiest 
of adieus, calling him " father " and " master," and looking 
upon him as their futui^ protector. 

Next to Fatiko, the chief station of the new territory will be 
Gondokoro. Eight more points have been marked out as prin- 
cipal posts, and these will constitute a chain leading from 
Kubia to the Albert N'Yanza. A thousand additional troops 



334: -SliJ SAMUEL BAKER. 

have ])een sent to garrison these stations. Baker says that the 
slave-traffic is now impossible in the territory of the White Nile, 
and that a stable government is established in the very centre 
of Africa. Three small steamers were intended to be trans- 
ported in pieces to the great lakes on the backs of camels, and 
are now, in all probability, plying on these immense waters. 
There are, at the present time, eleven steamers carrying on 
traffic on the White Nile above Khartoom ; and the Khedive is 
abont commencing a railway to connect Cairo with Khartoom. 

We are told that Baker's mission has been entirely success- 
ful ; that, in his capacity of representative of the Khedive, he 
has not onl}^ annexed tlie Nile basin as far as the equator to 
the Egyptian dominions, but, more important still, has suc- 
ceeded in putting down the slave-trade in that whole territory; 
and that a strong government has been established, tranquillity 
restored, and the way rendered safe to travellers as far as Zan- 
zibar. Should this prove true, even in part. Baker will be en- 
titled to a high place among the benefactors of his kind ; but, 
as will be seen in a subsequent chapter, Scliweinfurth does not 
take nearly so hopeful a view of the results of the Egyptian oc- 
cupation. 

As to the geographical results of this expedition, Sir Samuei 
is persuaded that Lakes Tanganyika and Albert N'Yanza are 
one, having thus a length of not less than seven hundred miles, 
and that a vessel can be launched near Murchison Falls, at the 
head of the N'Yanza, and sail to Ujiji, or lower, through ten. 
degrees of latitude. If this be so, then Burton and Livingstone, 
or Speke and Baker, or both, have made a tremendous error in 
calculating tlie respective altitudes of the two lakes — an error 
of nearly 1,000 feet. 



CHAPTER XY. 

LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERY OP LAKE NYASSA. 

After liis return from his famous journey across the conti- 
nent in 1855-'6, Livingstone only remained in England long 
enough to publish his account of that journey, and to make 
preparations for anotlier expedition which he had resolved to 
undertake, with the object of finding how far inland the Zam- 
besi and its affluents were actually navigable by steamers, and 
also of penetrating the regions north of that river, so as to con- 
nect his own discoveries with those of Burton and Speke. Both 
the Royal Geographical Society and the government gave a 
hearty support to this expedition. Livingstone was made, con- 
sul, which gave his undertaking a semi-national character ; and 
the most liberal provision was made for him in the way of sup- 
plies, including a small steam launch, the Ma Robert^ which 
was sent out from England in sections, and put together at the 
mouth of the Zambesi River. He also secured competent as- 
sistants in the persons of his brother, the Rev. Charles Living- 
stone, who had been living for some years in Massachusetts, 
and Dr. Kirk, an accomplished botanist. 

The expedition left England on the 10th of March, 1858, and 
reached tlie mouth of the Zambesi River in May. The delta 
of the Zambesi marks it as one of the most important rivers in 
Africa. The whole range of coast from the Luabo Channel to 
Quillimane really belongs to that river, for the Quillimane is in 
fact only a branch of the Zambesi, which takes a direction due 
east at about sixteen degrees south latitude. Between the most 
westerl}^ entrance to the Zambesi and Quillimane, not less than 
seven subsidiary streams pour their waters into the Indian 
Ocean. This vast delta far surpasses that of the ISTile, and, if 
properly cultivated, Avould undoubtedly equal it in fertility. 
The Zambesi itself almost rivals in magnitude the great river 
of Egypt, and in some respects considerably resembles it. Like 
the Nile, it has its great annual flood, overflowing and fertiliz- 
ing ':he surrounding country. It has also its falls, cataracts, 
and diallows, which present obstacles to continuous navigation. 
The perpendicular rise of the Zambesi, in a portion of its course 



336 LIVINGSTONE'S DISG0VBB7 OF LAKE NTASSA. 

where it is compressed between lofty hills, is eighty feet, but 
in the dry season there are parts of the river where there are 
only eighteen inches of water. Livingstone's party had re- 
peatedly to drag their steamer over such shallows. To, navi- 
gate the river throughout the whole year, vessels of only eigh- 
teen inches' draught would be required ; but, in the flood sea- 
son, the cataracts are obliterated by the rise of the waters, and 
steamers of considerable burden could be used, the rapidity of 
the current, however, demanding a high amount of power. In 
the long spaces between the cataracts vessels of several feet 
draught might ply at almost any time ; but this would imply 
loading and unloading, and a considerable number of such 
vessels working in connection. 

The delta reaches from eighty to a hundred miles inland, 
and the soil is so rich that cotton miglit be cultivated to an 
immense extent ; while there is an area, eighty miles in length 
and fifty in breadth, which, Livingstone says, would, if prop- 
erly treated, supply the whole of Europe with sugar. Sand- 
banks and rapids much impeded the progress of the little 
steamer at certain points, while tlie amount of fuel consumed 
was enormous — said fuel consisting of blocks of the finest 
ebony and lignum vitae, of a quality that would bring six 
pounds per ton in England. In spite of all this, even the 
heavy-laden native canoes gained upon the asthmatic little 
craft, which puffed and panted after them in vain. 

The scenery is not interesting in the lower course of the 
river ; it is a dreary, uninhabited expanse of grassy plains, 
with the round green tops of the stately palm-trees, at a 
distance, having the appearance of being suspended in the air. 
The broad river has many low islands, on which are to be seen 
large flocks of water-fowl, such as geese, spoonbills, herons, 
and flamingoes ; repulsive crocodiles, with open jaws, sleep 
and bask in the sun on the low banks, and, hearing any un- 
wonted sound, glide quietly into the stream. " The hippopot- 
amus, having selected some still reach of the river to spend 
the day in, rises from the bottom, where he has been enjoying 
his morning bath after the labors of the night on shore, blows 
a puff of spray out of his nostrils, shakes the water out of his 
ears, puts up his enormous snout and yawns — sounding a loud 
alarm to the rest of the herd, if he should feel that there is 
any occasion; his notes being like those of a monster bas- 
soon." 

In the upper course of the Zambesi, and among the hills, 
the scenery is very striking, and it is rendered still more so by 



LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERT OF LAKE NYASSA. 337 

the variety and beauty of the birds : — " The birds, from the 
novelty of their notes and plumage, arrest the attention of a 
traveller perhaps more than the peculiarities of the scenery. 
The dark woods resound with the lively and exultant song of 
the kinghunter {Halcyon striolata), as he sits perched on high 
among the trees. As the steamer moves on through the wind- 
ing channel, a pretty little heron or bright kingfisher darts out 
in alarm from the edge of the bank, flies on ahead a short 
distance, and settles quietly down, to be again frightened off 
iu a few seconds as we approach. The magnificent fish-hawk 
(Halimtus vocife?) sits on the top of a mangrove-tree, digest- 
ing his morning meal, and is clearly unwilling to stir until the 
imminence of danger compels him at last to spread his great 
wings for flight. The glossy ibis, acute of ear to a remarkable 
degree, hears from afar the unwonted sound of the paddles, 
and, springing from the mud where his family has been quietly 
feasting, is off, screaming out his loud, harsh, and defiant ha ! 
ha ! ha ! lonoj before the dano^er is near. 

'' The winter birds of passage, such as the yellow wagtail 
and blue arongo shrikes, have all gone, and other kinds have 
come ; the brown kite with his piping like a boatswain's 
whistle, the spotted cuckoo with a call like ' pula,' and the 
roller and horn bill with their loud, high notes, are occasionally 
distinctly heard, though generally this harsher music is half 
drowned in the volume of sweet sounds poured forth from 
many a throbbing throat, which makes an African Christmas 
seem like an English May. Some birds of the weaver kind 
have laid aside their winter garments of a sober brown, and 
appear in a gay summer dress of scarlet and jet black ; others 
have passed from green to bright yellow, with patches like 
black velvet. The brisk little cock whydah-bird with a pink 
bill, after assuming his summer garb of black and white, has 
graceful plumes attached to his new coat ; his finery, as some 
believe, is to please at least seven hen birds with which he is 
said to live. Birds of song are not entirely confined to vil- 
lages ; but they have in Af i-ica been so often observed to con- 
gregate around villages, as to produce the impression that song 
and beauty may have been intended to please the eye and ear 
of man, for it is only wlien we approach the haunts of men 
that we know that the time of the sinjj^inLC of birds is come. 
A red-throated black weaver bird comes in flocks a little later, 
w^earing a long train of magnificent plumes, which seem to be 
greatly in his way when working for his dinner among the 
long grass. A goatsucker, or night-jar ( Cometornis vexillai'ius), 
22 



338 LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOYEBY OF LAKE NTASSA. 

on]y ten inches long from head to tail, also attracts the eye in 
November by a couple of feathers twenty-six inches long in 
the middle of each wing, the ninth and tenth from the outside. 
They give a slow, wavy motion to the wings, and evidently 
retard his flight, for at other times he flies so quick that no 
boy could hit him with a stone. The natives can kill a hare 
by throwing a club, and make good running shots ; but no one 
ever struck a night-jar in common dress, though in the evening 
twilight they settle close to one's feet. What may be the 
object of the flight of the male bird being retarded we cannot 
tell. The males alone possess these feathers, and only for a 
time." 

The honey-guide is remarKable for its peculiar intelligence : 
— " How is it that every member of its family has learned 
that all men, white or black, are fond of honey % The instant 
the little fellow gets a glimpse of a man, he hastens to greet 
him with the hearty invitation to come to a beehive and take 
some honey. He flies on in the proper direction, perches on' a 
tree, and looks back to see if you are following ; then on to 
another and another, until he guides you to the spot. If you 
do not accept his first invitation, he follows you with pressing 
importunities — quite as anxious to lure the stranger to the 
beehive as other birds are to draw him away from their own 
nests. Except when on the march, our men were sure to 
accept the invitation, and manifested their acquiescence by a 
peculiar responsiye whistle, meaning, as they said, ' All right, 
go ahead ; we are coming.' The bird never deceived them, 
ibut always guided them to a hive of bees, though some had 
!but little honey in store." 

The bird which guards the buffalo and the rhinoceros is also 
very intelligent : " The grass is often so tall and dense that 
•one could go close up to these animals quite unperceived ; but 
the guardian bird, sitting on the beast, sees the approach of 
•danger, flaps its wings and screams, "which causes its bulky 
fcharge to rush off from a foe he has neither seen nor heard ; 
for his reward the vigilant little watcher has the pick of the 
parasites of his fat friend." 

The Portuguese have two stations or forts on the Zambesi — 
one at Senna, th-e other at Tete ; but they hold them by suffer- 
ance rather than by prestige or power, for they have to pay a 
kind of blackmail in presents to the neighboring tribes for 
permission to reside in the country ; nor do the commercial 
advantages of these settlements appear to compensate for the 
cost of their maintenance. Yet the natural resources of the 



LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERT OF LAKE NTASSA. 339 

district are very great. Indigo grows wild on the banks of the 
Hver, and the streets of Tete are overgrown with the pL'^.nt as 
a weed. The sngar-cane thrives abundantly almost in a state 
of wildness. Caoutchouc and calumba-root, used as a mordant 
for colors, are found in great plenty. Iron ore is worked by 
the natives, and excellent coal is found in large quantity — 
there being one seam which was seen cropping out on the 
banks of the river, which measures ^\e feet in thickness. The 
produce of the gold -washings on the Zambesi was at one time 
considerable, but the tributaries have never been " pros- 
pected," nor has any but the rudest machinery ever been used. 

Steaming slowly up the river, Livingstone reached Tete on 
the 8th of September, and here he found the faithful Mako- 
lolos who accompanied him thus far from Linyanti in 1S5G. 
They were still waiting for him, and were almost overwhelmed 
with delight at his appearance. Some fell upon his neck, 
while others stood off at a respectful distance, saying : '* Do 
not touch him : you will spoil his new clothes ! " 

J^ext to the discovery of the great Nyassa Lake, the most 
important work accomplished by this expedition was the 
exploration of the river Shire, the great northern tributary of 
the Zambesi, which it joins about a hundred miles from the 
sea. The Portuguese do not seem to have known anything of 
this stream, being deterred from attempting its navigation by 
the dense vegetation which clogs its mouth ; and Livingstone 
was probably the first European that ever ascended it. He 
entered it in January, 1859, and steamed up it about a hun- 
dred miles, when further progress was prevented by a series 
of cataracts and rapids nearly 40 miles long, the first and most 
important of whi'h Livingstone named after Sir Koderick 
Murchison, the President of the Eoyal Geographical Society. 
It was not considered prudent on this occasion to push beyond 
the Murohison Falls ; so the party returned to Tete for further 
supplies. 

In March, Livingstone, accompanied by Dr. Kirk, again 
ascended the river, with the determination to leave the steamer 
at the foot of the falls, and push on afoot to Lake Shirwa. 
His starting-point was the village of Chibisa, the chief of the 
most important of the surrounding tribes, who at once entered 
into friendly negotiations, showing considerable intelligence, 
shrewdness, and good-feeling. He was a firm believer in the 
special bestowment of Divine favor upon kings. Before his 
father died, he said, he was himself but a common man ; but 
when he succeeded to the high office, he was conscious of 



340 LIVmaSTONE'S DISCOVERT OF LAKE NTA8SA. 

power passing into his head and down his back. He felt it 
enter, and then he knew that he was a chief possessed of wis- 
dom and invested with authority. 

Having left their steamer as proposed, Livingstone and 
Kirk, accompanied by a party of natives, proceeded on foot to 
Lake Shirwa, reaching it on the 18th of April. They found it 
to be a large body of water, bitter and slightly brackish, but 
abounding in fish, crocodiles, and hippopotami. The lake is 
about 60 miles long and 30 broad, and is surrounded by lofty 
mountains, the shores being fringed with reeds and papyrus- 
plants. It is about 1,200 feet above the level of the sea, and 
has no outlet, though it is only separated from Lake Nyassa 
by a narrow strip of land, over which the surplus water of the 
Shirwa probably runs in seasons of flood. The people living 
in the vicinity of the lake had never heard of the existence of 
white men ; and when the exploring party first appeared, the 
men were excessively timid, the women fled into the huts and 
closed the doors, and even the hens took wing and left their 
chickens in dismay. 

Livingstone's discovery of Lake IN'yassa would alone give 
him a high place among African explorers, even if he had 
accomplished nothing more. Captain Burton would probably 
have been the first to reach it, if he had not been misled by 
erroneous reports; for having been told by the Arabs that the 
lake which he had been directed by his instructions to seek, 
was small and important, he changed his course from west to 
northwest and came upon Lake Tanganyika instead. Living- 
stone accomplished the journey to the lake by an overland 
march of twenty days from Chibisa's village, reaching the 
shore of the lake, on the 16th of September, 1859, at the point 
where the Shire issues from it in lat. 14° 25' S. This is its 
extreme southern end. The length of the lake is about 200 
miles, and its breadth between 50 and 60. It is liable to sud- 
den and violent storms, in one of which the travellers were 
nearly shipwrecked on the occasian of their second visit. Its 
depth is so ne^-rly the same throughout the year, that there 
is only a difference of three feet between its highest and low- 
est condition, although it receives the waters of five rivers on 
its western side. The principal affluent is at the northern ex- 
tremity. The travellers remained but a short time at Lake 
IS^yassa, which they did not attempt at this time to explore. On 
the return journey, which took forty days ; they suffered many 
privations and were accidently poisoned by eating , some cas- 
sava roots which had not been previously prepared for food. 



LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERY OF LAKE N7ASSA. 341 

On the 2d of February, 1860, the entire party were once more 
assembled at Tete. 

Livingstone's narrativ^e of this expedition covers a period of 
nearly six years, during which he was constantly extending the 
area of his explorations ; but as these were over a region with 
the general features of which he has already made us familiar, 
and as his record lacks the interest of his earlier travels, 
we will here only mention the principal journeys which he 
undertook, and then summarize the results of his observa- 
tions. 

In May, 1860, he left Tete for the Upper Zambesi Yalley, 
chiefly for the purpose of carrying back the faithful Makololo 
who had left their homes with him four years before. Tliey 
followed nearly the same route by which they had come east- 
ward in 1856, and performed the journey in safety. At Ses- 
heke he found the chief Sekeletu still alive but suffering from 
leprosy ; and at Linyanti he found his wagon with his scien- 
tific instruments and some goods, standing just as he had left it 
seven years previously. On the return to Tete he lost his in- 
struments and Dr. Kirk's botanical collection, by trpng to pass 
the Kebrabasa Rapids in canoes ; and subsequently in going in 
the Ma Robert to the mouth of the Zambesi, the leaky craft 
grounded on a sand-bank and soon went to pieces. The Pio- 
neer^ a stronger and better steamer, was sent out from England 
to replace it. In July, 1861, he made another journey to lake 
Shirwa, in company with Bishop Mackenzie of the Universi- 
ties mission ; and in August of the same year reached Lake 
Nyassa a second time, by having a four-oared boat carried 
around the Murchision Falls and rapids and paddling up the 
Shire. He spent two months in exploring the lake, in com- 
pany with his brother and Dr. Kirk, but only succeeded in 
skirting a portion of the western shore. In June, 1862, he 
made an attempt to explore the Rovuma River, which enters 
the Indian Ocean between lat. 10° and 11° S., north of the 
Portuguese territory ; and succeeded in ascending it to a point 
156 miles from the sea. Two months prior to this latter jour- 
ney, on the 27th of April, Mrs. Livingstone died at Shiipanga, 
a victim to the terrible climate of the Lower Zambesi. Finally, 
in August, September, and October, 1863, Livingstone, with 
only a party of natives, made a third journey to Lake 
Nyassa, and made a desperate ef]fort to travel entirely round it, 
but was compelled to turn back after marching about 500 miles 
on account of the impossibility of procuring food, and the in- 
subordination of his followers. During the latter part of his 



342 LIVINGSTONE'S DISGOVmY OF LAKE NTASSA, 

journey, lie was on the high-road from Lake Nyassa to Caz- 
embe — Magyar's " Mohiwa kingdom." 

Five years having now been spent in laborious exploration, 
attended with many and great difficalties, and resulting, in 
connection with the unfortunate Universities Mission, in the loss 
of some valuable lives, orders were transmitted bv the Govern- 
ment that the expedition should be withdrawn, and that Liv- 
ingstone should return to England. The Government had 
been disappointed in various particulars — ^in the commercial 
capabilities both of the Zambesi and Kovuma ; in regard to 
the prevalence of the slave-trade, and the extreme difficulty of 
suppi'essing it ; in the lamentable failure of the Universities 
Mission ; and in the generally unsettled and dangerous state of 
the country. Livingstone, too, was far from satisfied with the 
geographical results of his labors ; and it was with little re- 
luctance than in February, 1864, he left the Zambesi and sailed 
for England via Zanzibar and Bombay. 

The river Shire, the discovery and exploration of which was, 
as we have said, one of the most important results of the ex- 
pedition, is not so wide as the Zambesi, but it is deeper, and 
is more easily navigated. Its depth is not less than &\q feet, 
at all seasons of the year, for a distance of two hundred miles 
from the sea, and it drains an exceedingly fertile valley flanked 
by finely-wooded hills. Li some places the stream runs with 
great velocity, thus furnishing a water-power which might be 
extensively utilized. Dr. Livingstone, in all his travels, has 
not anywhere observed so large an extent and so high a degree 
of cultivation. Maize, yams, hemp, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, 
peas, sugar-cane, lemons, ginger, tobacco, and cotton abounded ; 
and he is of opinion that the capability of the country for the 
production of cotton can scarcely be exaggerated. He sent 
samples to Manchester, where it was pronounced to be of the 
finest quality, and 300 lbs. of clean cotton wool were pur- 
chased for less than a penny per pound. It also appears that 
free labor is as easily procured here as in any country in the 
world. It would be difficult to over-estimate the importance 
of Livingstone's discovery of this rich and densely populated 
district, with its great navigable river. In a despatch to the 
English Foreign Office he says, " We have opened a cotton and 
sugar district of great and unknown extent, and which really 
seems to afford ]-easonable prospect of great commercial bene- 
fit to our own country ; it presents facilities for commanding a 
large section of the slave-market on the coast, and offers a fair 
hope of its suppression by lawful commerce." 



LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERT OF LAKE NYASSA. 343 

In the basin of the Shire there is a series of terraces — the 
first being below the Murchison Falls ; the second is a plateau 
of two thousand, and the third of three thousand, feet of ele- 
vation. There must therefore be a great variety of climate ; 
but cotton is extensively cultivated on all the terraces, and the 
people were to be observed everywhere picking, cleaning, or 
spinning it. The inhabitants of this district have no cattle, 
but the number of wild animals is prodigious, and great herds 
of elephants roam over the marshes and plains. 

It was on one of the elevated plateaux of the Shire valley 
that the enterprise knowil as the Universities Mission had its 
first station, and here was the residence of the late lamented 
Bishop Mackenzie. The remains of this most devoted man lie 
under the shade of one of the giants of the African forest, 
and within a few yards of the rippling watere of the Shire. 
Any man, however well-meaning, may fall into mistake. Tak- 
ing a false estimate of his position, this zealous Christian pas- 
tor unhappily gave an active armed support to a tribe which 
had been attacked by another with the determination of re- 
ducing it to slavery. He thus engaged in a native war, and 
converted a religious mission, the only object of which was to 
instruct and civilize the people, into an association for the for- 
cible liberation of slaves. But the country was at the time in 
a chronic state of warfare on account of the slave-trade, and 
therefore utterly unsuited to the purpose of the benevolent 
missionary experiment projected by the Universities. The at- 
tempt was therefore abandoned a few months after the death 
of Bishop Mackenzie by fever, many privations and much suf- 
fering having been endured by all connected with it. 

Livingstone declares that he had never before in Africa seen 
anything like so dense a population as was found on the shores 
of Lf»ke Nyassa; there is an almost unbroken chain of vil- 
lages towards the south end of it. Crowds assembled to gaze 
on tbe imwonted spectacle of boat under sail ; and whenever 
the explorers landed, they were surrounded by men, women, 
and children, all eager to see the " chirombo," or wild animals, 
feed. But these people were inoffensive in their curiosity, sel- 
dom doing more than slily lifting the edges of the tent and 
peeping in. 

On the banks of the ISTyassa great care is bestowed on the 
graves c)f the dead. The burying-grounds are well protected; 
there are wide paths through them ; and great fig-trees cast 
their deep shadows over these places of mortal repose. The 
graves of the sexes were distinguished by the various imple- 




344 LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVEET OF LAKE NTASSA, 

meiits or utensils wliicli their occupants had used during life ; 
but they were all broken. A piece of net or broken paddle told 
that a lisherman slept below ; and the graves of women were 

marked bj the wooden mortar and 
^ ^^^^^ fc heavy pestle which are used in 
pounding corn," or by the basket 
in which the meal is sifted. All 
had placed over them fractured 
calabashes and pots to signify that 
now the need of daily food was 
at an end forever. 

The chiefs of the district were 
remarkable for their courtesy and 
the genuine hospitality which they 
exhibit toward strangers. One of 
them whom the travellers found 
HOTTENTOT GRAVE. in lils stockado, entered frankly 

and politely into conversation with 
them, and not only pressed food upon them, but, pointing to his 
iron bracelet, richly inlaid with copper, inquired, " Do they wear 
such things in your country ? " and on being told that they 
were unknown, immediatel}^ took it from his arm and presented 
it to Livingstone, his wife doing the same with hers. 

The exploring party found the land well-cultivated in all 
these districts. Bishop Mackenzie says, " I came out here to 
teach these people agriculture, but I find they know far more 
about it than I do." In the whole country, men, women and 
boys were all eager to work in the fields for hire ; and indeed 
not in the fields only, but to be hired for any description of 
labor which they could accomplish. One of the exploring 
party, for example, had a tattered pair of trousers, and one 
leg of these purchased the services of a man to cany a heavy 
load for a whole day, and he thought himself well enough 
paid ; on the second day another man was hired for the other 
leg ; and the remains of the garment, including the buttons, 
secured the services of another for the third. The fruitf ulness 
of the country renders work in the fields very light, and the 
task of procuring subsistence is far from difiicult. 

The manufacture of iron tools is the staple industry of the 
liighlands of the Nyassa. Every village has its smelting- 
liouse, charcoal burners, and blacksmiths, who make the brace- 
lets and anklets in general use. British iron is not esteemed, 
and is pronounced " rotten." Specimens of hoes have been 
pronounced in Birmingham to be nearly equal to the best 



LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERY OF LAKE NTASSA. 345 

Swedish iron, and the metal was found to be of so high a 
quality that an Enfield rifle was made of it. Pottery is also 
manufactured in the villages round the Lakes Shirwa and 
Nyassa, and in other places. 

In those districts to which the slave-trade had not penetrated, 
the social and political state of the country visited by. Dr. 
Livingstone and his party presented a marked contrast to the 
AYestern Coast of Africa, and to the eastern region traversed 
by Burton and Speke. The Makololo are the most intelligent 
of all the tribes inhabiting the region of the Zambesi. Poly- 
gamy is universal in this part of Africa, and the women 
warmly approve of it. But the husbands are considerably 
hen-pecked. The travellers, endeavoring on one occasion to 
purchase a goat, had nearly concluded the bargain, when a 
wife came forward and said to her husband, " You appear as 
if you were unmarried, selling a goat without consulting your 
wife ! What sort of a man are you ? " The party tried to per- 
suade the crestfallen husband to pluck up a little spirit and to 
close the transaction ; but he exclaimed, " No, no ; it is bad 
enough as it is ; I have already brought a hornet's nest about 
my ears." The travellers say, " We have known a wife order 
her husband not to sell a fowl, merely, as we supposed, to 
prove to us that she had the upper hand." 

The Makololo ladies, having domestic servants to wait on 
them and perform the principal part of the household work, 
have abundance of leisure, which they are sometimes at a loss 
to know liow to employ. The men declare that their two prin- 
cipal modes of killing time are sipping beer and smoking bang, 
or Indian hemp. The husbands indulge freely in these pas- 
times, but they do not like their wives to follow their example. 
The dress of the women consists of a species of kilt and mantle 
and a profusion of bead and brass ornaments. The " principal 
wife of one of the most powerful chiefs wore eighteen heavy 
brass rings on each leg, and three of copper under each knee, 
nineteen brass rings on her left arm and eight of brass and 
copper on her riglit, together with a large ivory ring above 
each elbow. The weight of the rings, of course seriously im- 
peded her gait ; but as they were the fashion she disregarded 
that. The most extraordinary device, in this connection, is the 
pelele — a ring which causes the upper lip to project two inches 
beyond the tip of the nose, giving to the mouth the elongation 
and somewhat the appearance of a duck's bill. This strange 
appendage is quite a necessity in order to any woman's appear- 
ing in public. Plumpness is considered essential to beauty, 



343 LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERT OF LAKE NTASSA. 

to j Lidge of distances. * Is it wounded ? ' inquired a gentleman 
of his dark attendant, after firing at an antelope. ' Yes ! the 
ball went right into his heart.' These mortal wounds never 
proving fatal, he desired a friend who understood the language 
to explain to the man that he preferred the truth in every case. 
* He is my father,' replied the native, ' and I thought he would 
be displeased if I told him that he never hits at all.' " 

Crocodiles are very numerous in the river Shire. The 
travellers counted sixty-seven of them, on one occasion, basking 
on the same bank. The dead body of a boy floated past the 
Pioneer, and a prodigious crocodile rushed at it with the speed 
of a greyhound, caught and " shook it as a terrier dog would a 
rat," and others immediately dashed at the body, making the 
■^ water foam by the action of their powerful tails. Women are 
frequently seized by these creatures while drawing water, and 
the protection of a fence is required to keep oif the crocodiles 
from 'the river's brink. The attempts of the party to catch any 
of these ' reptiles were not very successful. They were quite 
ready to* take the bait — and they took it, flattening the strongest 

- hooks with their immense jaws and getting away. 

Droughts at particular seasons are prevalent in every part 
of the interior of Africa, with the exception of the rainy zone 
of th^ equatorial region. They extend over areas of from one 
to three hundred miles. Dr. Livingstone's inquiries led him 
to believe that at from 10° to 15° south latitude they may be ex- 
pected to occur once in every ten or fifteen years ; and from 
15° to 20° south latitude, once in every five years. The cause 
of them is not understood. The hills are generally well 
hooded, and they are clothed with verdure to their summits ; 
while the valleys, where they are cultivated, are almost choked 
with a most ' profuse and rank vegetation. When the drought 
comes, both hill and valle}^ present an appearance as if scathed 
by fire; the grass crumbles into powder, aqd the leaves drop 
discolored from the trees. The effect of one of these dry sea- 
sons on the population is frightful. On his first journey up 
the Shire to the Nyassa, Livingstone passed through a populous 
and well-cultivated country. Between that time and his re- 
turn, eighteen months afterwards, a drought of great severity 
had occurred, and the misery which had been occasioned by it 
had been aggravated by a slave-hunting expedition which had 
devasted -the whole district almost as much as the calamity 

' which had been inflicted by nature. Instead of peaceful vil- 
lages well occupied, there was scarcely a person to be seen. The 
people generally had fled from their unmerciful hunters no 



LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERT OF LAKE NY ASS A. 349 

less than from their barren fields ; the recently dead lay nn- 
buricd, innumerable corpses which the gorged crocodiles were 
not al)le to devour floated down the rivers, human skeletons 
obstructed the paths, and the whole country was a scene of ap- 
palling desolation. 

In the dry season, the tributaries of the Zambesi are almost 
without water. The Znngwe was traced up to the foot of the* 
Batoka highlands, which the travellers ascended to the height 
of three thousand feet, and thus obtained a magnificent pano- 
ramic view of the great valley of the Zambesi, of which tl>e 
cultivated portions are so small that the country appeared to be^^ 
nearly all forest interspersed with a few grassy glades. The 
great falls of tlie Zambesi — to which, on tlie occasion of 
his first visit in 1855, Dr. Livingstone gave -the name of the 
Victoria Falls — were again visited on this his second expedi- " 
tion, and he was thus enabled more fully to examine them. 
Without question, they constitute the most wonderful water- 
fall in the world. The name by which they are known among 
the natives is Mosi-oatunya, or " smoke sounding." Their 
fame had extended to a long distance, for when Dr. Living- 
stone was on an excursion in the interior, in 1851, a chief who 
resided two hundred miles from them asked, " Have you any 
smoke-soundings in your country ? " When the river is in 
flood, the columns of vapor, resplendent in the morning sun 
w^ith double, and sometimes triple, rainbows, are visible for a 
distance of ten miles. These immense columns are caused by 
a sudden compression of the water, and its being forced 
tlirough a narrow wedge-like fissure. The fall probably orig- 
inated in an earthquake which produced a deep transverse 
crack in the bed of the river — which is a mass of hai-d basal- 
tic rock, and which is prolonged from the left bank for thirty 
or forty miles. His closer examination on this visit enabled 
Livingstone to add some interesting particulars to the long de- 
scription which we have already quoted in a previous chapter. 

'* It is rather a hopeless task," he says, " to endeavor to con- 
vey an idea of it in words, since, as was remarked on the 
spo^, an accomplished painter, even by a number of views, 
could impart but a faint impression of the glorious scene. The 
]M-()bable mode of its formation may, perhaps, help to the con- 
ception of its peculiar shape. Niagara has been formed by a 
wearing back of the rock over which the river falls; and dur- 
ing a long course of ages, it has gradually receded, and left a 
broad, deep, and pretty straight trough in front. It goes on 
wearing back daily, -and may yet discharge the lakes from 



350 LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERT OF LAKE NTASSA. 

whicli its river — the St. Lawrence — ^flows. But the Victoria 
Falls have been formed by a crack right across the river, in the 
hard, black, basaltic rock which there formed the bed of the 
Zambesi. The lips of the crack are still quite sharp, save 
I about thi-ee feet of the edge over which the riven falls. The 

walls go sheer down from the lips without any projecting crag, 
or symptom of stratification or dislocation. When the mighty 
rift occurred no change of level took place in the two parts of 
the bed of the river thus rent asunder, consequently in coming 
down the river to Garden Island, the water suddenly disap- 
pears, and we see the opposite side of the cleft, with grass and 
trees growing where once the river ran, on the same level as 
that part of its bed on which we sail. The first crack is, in 
length, a few yards more than the breadth of the Zambesi, 
^ ^ which by measurement we found to be a little over one thousand 

eight hundred and sixty yards ; but this number we resolved 
to retain as indicating the year in which the fall was for the 
first time carefully examined. The main stream here runs 
nearly north and south, and the cleft across it is nearly east 
and west. The depth of the rift was measured by lowering a 
line, to the end of which a few bullets and a foot of white cot- 
ton cloth were tied ; one of us lay with his head over a pro- 
jecting crag, and watched the descending calico, till, after his 
companions had paid out three hundred and ten feet, the 
weight rested on a sloping projection, probably fifty feet from 
the water below, the actual bottom being still farther down. 
The white cloth now appeared the size of a crown-piece ; on 
measuring the width of this deep cleft by sextant, it was found 
at Garden Island, its narrowest part, to be eighty yards, and at 
its broadest somewhat more. Into this chasm, of twice the 
depth of Niagara Falls, the river, a full mile wide, rolls with a 
deafening roar ; and this is the Mosi-oatunya, or the Victoria 
Falls. 

" Looking from Garden Island, down to the bottom of the 
abyss, nearly half a mile of water, which has fallen over that 
portion of the falls to our right, or west of our point of view, 
is seen collected in a narrow channel twenty or thirty yards 
wide, and flowing at exactly right angles to its previous course, 
to our left ; while the other half, or that which fell over the 
eastern portion of the falls, is seen in the left of the narrow 
channel below, coming towards our right. Both waters unite 
midway, in a fearful boiling whirlpool, and find an outlet by 
a crack situated at right angles to the fissure of the falls. This 
outlet is about one thousand one hundred and seventy yards 



LIVINGSTOI^E'S DISCOVERT OF LAKE NTASSA. 351 

from the western end of the chasm, and some six hundred from 
its eastern end ; the whirlpool is at its commencement. The 
Zambesi, now not apparently more than twenty or thirty yards 
wide, rushes and surges south, through the narrow escape chan- 
nel, for one hundred and thirty yards; then enters a second 
chasm somewhat deeper and nearly parallel with the first. 
Abandoning the bottom of the eastern half of this second chasm 
to the growth of large trees, it turns sharply off to the west, 
and forms a promontory, with the escape channel at its point 
of one thousand one hundred and seventy yards long, and four 
hundred and sixteen yards broad at the base. After reaching 
this base, the river runs abruptly round the head of another 
promontory, and flows away to the east in a third chasm, then 
glides round a third promontory, much narrower than the 
rest, and away back to the west in a fourth chasm ; and we 
could see in the distance that it appeared to round still another 
promontory, and bend once more in another chasm toward the 
east. In this gigantic zigzag, yet narrow, trough the rocks are 
all so sharply cut and angular, that the idea at once arises that 
the hard basaltic trap must have been riven into its present 
shape by a force acting from beneath, and that this probably 
took place when the ancient inland seas were let off by similar 
fissures nearer the ocean." 

The whole district now drained by the Zambesi and its tribu- 
taries was probably, at one time, a vast fresh-water lake, of 
which there are many traces extending over a track which 
reaches from 17° to 21° south latitude. Almost the whole of 
this immense area is covered with a bed of tufa, more or less 
soft, where it has been exposed to atmospheric influences. The 
waters of this great inland sea have escaped by means of cracks 
produced in its surrounding boundaries, at some remote period, 
by subterranean agency. The Assure of the Victoria Falls, foi 
example, has probably contributed to the draining of an enor- 
mous valley, leaving only the deepest portion of the original 
sea, the Nyassa Lake. Almost all the African lakes are com- 
paratively shallow, and are the remains of much larger bodies 
of water. The climate of Africa is therefore supposed, and 
with reason, to have been formerly much more moist than it is 
now ; and the great equatorial lake regions are being gradually 
dried up by a process which has been in operation for ages. 
That the Nyassa has shrunk in its area is proved by the ex- 
istence of varied beaches on its borders, and by the deep clay 
strata through which several of its affluents flow. 

The rocks in the central part of this great continent consist 



352 LIYINOSTONE'S DISCOVERY OF LAKE N'TASSA. 

nsually of a coarse grey sandstone, lying horizontally, or only 
Tery slightly inclined. Within this extensive sandstone deposil: 
is a coal-field of vast but unknown extent, the materials of 
which were supplied by the tropical plants w^hich grew on the 
low shores of the great inland sea whose existence w^ have sup- 
posed probable, and which must have undergone many changes. 
Yet Africa as a whole is the grand type of a region which has to 
a large extent preserved its ancient terrestrial conditions dur- 
ing a period of indefinite duration, unaffected by any consider- 
able changes except those whicli are dependent on atmospheric 
and meteoric influences. By far the greatest part of its vast 
interior has been unaffected bv the g-reat inundations to which 
the other continents have been exposed. Limestone, we be- 
lieve, has not been found with marine exuviae, in any part of 
it ; neither has chalk or flint been met with. The surface of 
it is free from coarse superficial drift. There are in it no 
traces of volcanoes ; nor has its surface been much disturbed 
by internal forces, although in one or two places the primitive 
rocks have been protruded in isolated masses, as on the shores 
of the Albert N'Yanza and the great mountain groups of 
Kenia and Kilimanjaro. 

It was supposed that the Rovuma, a river some leagues to 
the north, might afford a more easy access to the district of the 
Nyassa than the Zambesi and the Shire, and might also prove 
to be more healthy, and better fitted for missionary work. 
The valley of the Rovuma, however-, so far as Livingstone saw 
it when he ascended it in 1863, resembles that of the Zambesi, 
but is on a smaller scale. The river was found to be unfit for 
navigation for four months in the year, but, like the Zambesi, 
it might be available for commerce for the other eight months. 
In its lower course the river is a mile wide and from five to six 
fathoms in depth. There is little that is interesting in the as- 
pect of its banks. Higher up, the scenery is described by 
- Bishop Mackenzie as extremely beautiful, consisting of finely- 
^()oded hills two or three hundred feet in height within a short 
distance of the river. According to the natives, the Kovuma 
issues from Lake Nyassa, but none of them had ascended the 
stream far enough to prove it. 

Dr. Livingstone asserts that he was the first to see slavery in 
its origin in this part of Africa, in whicli so many are first made 
slaves, and also declares that he had good opportunities of trac- 
ing it through all its revolting phases. It is carried on in con- 
nection with the trade in ivory, and from fifteen to twenty 
canoes freighted with slaves for the Portuguese settlements 



LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERY OF LAKE NTASSA. 353 

have been seen at a time on the Upper Zambesi. Tribe is 
arrayed against tribe for the capture oi: slaves, and sometimes 
even family against family, and there are places in which every 
house is protected by a stockade. Tribes the liighest in intelli- 
gence are found, in many instances, to be morally the most 
degraded — men freely selling their own wives and grown-up 
daughters. On the shores of Lake N"yassa the slave-merchants 
were at the time of Dr. Livingstone's visit paying two yards of 
calico, worth about a shilling, for a boy, and four yards for a 
good-looking girL Where such practices exist, the lowest 
barbarism must be the condition of the people. Livingstone 
blames the Portuguese Government for much of this. Spain, 
formerly the most inveterate of European offenders, has taken 
to heart the lesson of expei'ience, and resolved to abandon for 
ever the abominable traffic in man ; and Portugal is now the 
only civilized nation which gives it the standing and protection 
of a systematized traffic. 

There is no room for doubt that the development of legiti- 
mate trade would prove far more profitable and beneficial in 
every way than the slave-trade. The capacity of the Eastern 
Coast of Africa for a large and lucrative trade is unquestion- 
able, and, notwithstanding many discouragements, such trade 
has made considerable progress within the last thirty or forty 
years. In 1834 the island of Zanzibar possessed little or no com- 
merce ; in 1860 the exports of ivory, gum, opal, and cloves, 
had risen to the value of $1,197,500, and the total exports and 
imports amounted to §5,002,885, emploj^ed twenty-five thou- 
sand three hundred and forty tons of shipping, and this under 
the rule of a petty Arabian prince, for the Sultan is really 
nothing more. It may be long before the natives can be in- 
duced to cultivate extensivel}' cotton and sugar for exportation, 
but there are many valuable natural products the preparation of 
which for the European market requires but little industry 
and no skill. There are liard woods which grow on the banks 
of the Zambesi and the Shire which are very valuable. These 
ma}^ be obtained in any quantity at the mere cost of cutting," 
and they can be transported to the coast at all seasons without 
difficulty. The lignum-vitse attains a larger size on the banks 
of the Zambesi than has ever been known anywhere else. The 
African ebony, although not botanically the same as the ebony 
of commerce, also attains immense proportions, and is of a 
deeper black. It abounds on the Povuma, within eight miles 
of the sea, as does the fustic, from which is extracted a strong 
yellow dye. 

23 



354 LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOYEBY OF LAKE NYASSA. 

Dr. Livingstone's two expeditions in South Africa have added 
largely to our geographical knowledge, and the facts which he 
supplies are important and interesting. In the latter of the 
two of which an outline has just been given, he entered and 
partly explored a region the liydrograpliy of which requires to 
l3e thoroughly known before the great mystery of the source of 
the Nile is completely solved, for there is no doubt that in the 
district of the equatorial lakes the head-springs of the mighty 
river exist. The complete solution of the great geographical 
problem may not be accomplished by one explorer, nor perhaps 
in one generation, but we are coming nearer and nearer to its 
determination. Speke, as we have seen, discovered the great 
Victoria Kyanza Lake, and on the occasion of a second expedi- 
dition, along with Grant, confirmed his previous observations 
and found a river issuing from it, which, after a not very 
lengthened course has been ascertained by Baker to flow, in 
common with several other rivers as large as itself, into an 
enormous lake now called the Albert Nyanza. Of the effluent 
of this lake our knowledge is yet incomplete. If Lake Tan- 
ganyika should prove to be connected with the Albert Nyanza, 
and the Albert ]N"yanza, by its western or other effluent, with 
the great river of Egypt, to Dr. Livingstone may yet be as- 
signed the honor of being the real discoverer of the source of 
the Nile, the probable location of which he pointed out long 
before any of the expeditions from the Eastern coast of Africa 
had been undertaken. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 

Mr. Henry M. Stanley, '' special correspondent " (as he de- 
lights to call himself) of the New York Herald, informs us in 
the preface to his " How I found Livingstone," that being in 
Madrid on the business of his profession, he received a tele- 
gram on the 16th of October, 1869, from Mr. James Gordon 
Bennett, the proprietor of tliat journal, to the effect that he 
must ^' come to Paris on important business." As soon as the 
train could carry him there he was in Paris, and in conversa- 
tion with the sender of the telegram. Without an}^ prelim- 
inary, Mr. Bennett informed him that he liad resolved that he 
(Stanley) should go to Africa and " find Dr. Livingstone." 
Ample means should be supplied ; and he must find the trav- 
eller if alive, and if dead bring all possible proof of his ])eing 
dead, together with all the information that could be obtained 
concerning his later explorations. Stanley was not new to a 
life of adventure and peril, and he willingly consented. 

Before setting out on his Central African expedition, how- 
ever, he went up the Nile to get such tidings as he could of 
Baker's expedition, visited Jerusalem to report on Captain 
Warren's excavations, travelled over the Crimean battle- 
grounds, traversed Persia on the line of the Indo-European 
Telegraph Company, and in August, 1870, found himself in 
Bombay. Sailing from Bombay on October 12th, 1870, he ar- 
rived at Zanzibar on the 6th of January, 1871, and immedi- 
ately set to work preparing for his journc}^ to tJie interior. 
Zanzibar agreeably surprised him. With the exception of the 
sandy beach, the island seemed buried in verdure from end to 
end. Many dhows were making their way out of and into the 
bay as he entered ; and towards the south there appeared the 
masts of several large ships, while to the east ^vas a mass of 
flat-roofed liouses. This was Zanzibar, the capital of the is- 
land ; and it presented all the chai-acteri sties of an Arab city. 
Over some of the largest houses fronting the bay, were the 
banner of the Sultan, Seyd Burghash, and the flags of the 
American, English, North-German Confederation, and French 
Consulates. In the harbor were thirteen large ships, — four 



356 STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 

Zanzibar men-of-war, one English man-of-war, two American, 
one French, one Portuguese, two English, and two German 
merchantmen, as well as many dhows from Johanna and May- 
otte of the Comoro Islands, and frorii Muscat and Cutch — 
traders between India, the Pei*sian Gulf, and Zanzibar. Cap- 
tain Webb, the United States Consul, received Stanley cor- 
dially, and hospitably entertained him. The most important 
consulate is the British, and the Consul is Dr. John Kirk, who 
accomj)anied Livingstone on liis journey to Lake Nyassa, in 
1859. Towards him Mr. Stanley seems to have conceived an 
ahnost comic degree of hostility, though the unfortunate Doc- 
tor evidently made an effort to be civil. 

The population of Zanzibar amounts to nearly 100,000 ; and 
th^it of the island altogether to about 200,000, including all 
races. In the city there are several classes which have an ex- 
tended influence over the whole community : the Arabs, the 
Banyans — a sharp, money-making people controlling mUch of 
the trade of Central Africa — and the Mahometan Hindus.'- 
These three represent the higher and the middle classes. They 
own the estates, the ships, and the trade. Negroes go to make 
up the mixed population, and these consist of the aborigines, 
the Wasawahili, Somalis, Comorines, Wanyamwezi, and' the 
representatives of many of the tribes of Inner Africa. The 
greatest number of foreign vessels trading with the port are 
said to be American; after the American, the German, and 
after them the French and English. They bring American 
sheeting, brandy, gunpowder, muskets, beads, English cottons, 
brass-wire, china-ware, and other articles, and take away ivory, 
gum-copal, cloves, hides, cowries, sesamum, pepper, and cocoa- 
nut oil. There used to be a large business done in slaves, who 
were conveyed from the coast to Zanzibar, and thence carried 
to their ultimate destinations in the countries which still en- 
couj-age this infamous traffic. It is to be hoped that present 
efforts to bind the authorities at Zanzibar to their promises in 
favor of the suppression of this trade will continue to be suc- 
cessful. • Hitherto, the temptations of profit have made all 
treaties notliing more than a dead letter. 

The organizing of an expedition to Central Africa is always 
a matter of difficulty, and so Stanley found. He must take 
sufficient for his purpose and no more, — ^he must not be in 
straits, neither must he burden himself with more than enough. 
There were questions to settle about quality and quantity in 
regard to cloth, beads, and wire — there l)eing no money in 
these countries; one description of article instead of money 



STANLEY ANB LIYINQSTONE. 357 

being of service in certain parts, while something different was 
, requisite in another. lie surveyed his store of " money," con- 
sisting of such ^goods as have been named ; but there were 
still to be provided food, cooking-utensils, boats, ropes, twine, 
tents, donkeys, saddles, bagging, canvas, tar, needles, tools, 
guns, ammunition, equipments, hatchets, medicines, bedding, 
presents for chiefs, and many things besides. 

One mistake lie made, and it might have cost him the suc- 
cess of his enterprise. He engaged as his subordinates a 
couple of English sailors, Farquhar and Shaw, who appear to 
have been worthless, drunken fellows, whose constitutions wero 
already ruined, and who both died in the interior after having 
given him an immense amount of trouble. lie was more for- 
tunate with his natives, enlisting among his road escort of 
twenty men several of Speke's " faithfuls," headed by the fa- 
mous " Eoinbay," who had the best of characters. In the 
course of a month Mr. Stanley had by great exertion got to- 
gether his goods and their guard, his donkeys and horses, and 
had carried them over in four dhow^s to Bagamoyo, a port and 
caravan station on the mainland, across a channel of twenty- 
five miles. He had with him the means of paying his way 
and of buying food for the one hundred and ninety-two souls 
which formed his caravan ; and all being in goods of various 
descriptions, it took him six weeks -at Bagamoyo to start them 
in five detachments on the road to Unyanyembe. A number 
of his men were armed ; and these he called soldiers. 

At Bagamoyo he found thirty-five men with a quantity of 
goods who had been despatched some time before, by Dr. 
Kirk, in aid of Dr. Livingstone, and who suddenly left for the 
interior when it was reported that Dr. Kirk had arrived in Her 
Majesty's ship Columbine. This speedy escape from censure 
was probably intended rather than accomplished ; for Dr. 
Kirk himself in a despatch to the Foreign Office informs us 
that on his arrival at Bagamoyo he found the men " still living 
in the village," and that " by using his influence with the 
Arabs, he succeeded at once in sending off all but four loads, 
and followed inland one day's journey himself." The remain- 
ing four loads, he afterwards arranged, were to be taken as far 
as Unyanyembe by an Arab caravan. 

The island of Zanzibar is cut by the sixth parallel of south 
latitude. From Bagamoyo, on the mainland, there is a well- 
known caravan route, which leads in the first instance to Un- 
yanyembe, a central trading station and settlement of the Arab 
ivory and slave merchants, and which lies in five degrees south 



S58 STABLE Y AND LIVING STONE. 

latitude, and is three linndred and sixty miles in a direct line 
west of Bagamoyo, though Mr. Stanley's route, as he computes 
it, makes the distance actually travelled no less than five hun- 
dred and twenty miles. The next and furthest depot of the 
Arab' merchants is Ujiji, on the sliores of the great Lake Tan- 
ganyika, one hundred and eighty miles due west from Unyan- 
yembe. When the native tribes and their petty sultans are 
not at war amongst themselves or with the Arabs, the road to 
Ujiji from Unyanyembe is neither difficult nor dangerous for 
a well-organized caravan ; but in case of war, it is beset with 
hazard, and a long detour must be made. This was Mr. Stan- 
ley's experience. But the road itself is easily found, and it is 
not, difficult to travel it. Floods are the only natural obstacles, 
guides are readily procurable, and the traveller need never of 
his own accord deviate from a well-beaten track. But the Eu- 
ropean has to encounter the fevers, of which he will probably 
have several before reaching Ujiji ; his followers may desert 
him or mutiny, or die of cholera, as did those sent to relieve 
'Dr. Livingstone ; his supplies may fail on account of unlooked- 
for delays, and he whose cloth and beads and wire come to an 
end in Central Africa, is worse off than he who has no money 
in London or JSTew York. In dealing with his own men and 
with chiefs whose demands may be exorbitant, the traveller 
will have need of all his tact, temper, and courage, but by 
dint of these good qualities, he will, generally speaking, suffer 
only moderately from robbery and ill-treatment. The country 
between the coast and Tanganyika is well travelled by cara- 
vans ; the tribute system with the different tribes is almost as 
well-organized as a customs' tariff ; and the drunken village 
chiefs and sultans, who depend upon traders for all their lux- 
uries, are wise enough to know that, if they rob and murder 
one caravan, another is not likely to come their way. Neither 
do the Arabs dare to kidnap along the route. Their slave- 
hunting grounds are in the distant interior, and it is quite an 
error to suppose that the country is desolated and uninhabited 
for several hundred miles, from the coast inwards. On the 
contrary, it is populous for a great part of the way from Bag- 
amoyo to Ujiji, and the inhabitants are generally prosperous 
and well-armed with flint guns, at least as far as Unyanyembe, 
and it is the interest of all parties to keep the peace. 

Lake Tanganyika lies live hundred and forty miles inland, 

•and is thought to stretch north and south for more than three 

hundred miles, having an average'4)readth of about forty miles. 

Lake Nyassa lies about three hundred miles to the west of it, 



STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE, 359 

and is known to belong to another water-shed. One of tlie 
great problems which Livingstone was endeavoring to solve in 
his last journeys, is whether the Tanganyika waters have or 
have not any outlet into the Albert IS'Yanza of Baker, and so 
into the Nile. The southern extremity of the Albert N'Yaiiza 
appears to be nearly two hundred miles from the north shore 
of Tanganyika. But Livingstone and Stanley found that the 
Rusisi River, the great hope of the upholders of this theory of 
the Tanganyika connection, flows into and not out of the north 
end of the lake, and it now appears to be not improbable that 
the Tanganyika has no outlet at all, or at least that it has no 
outlet towards the north. But there is still another question, 
the answer to which will, as Livingstone hopes, bring the Xil^ 
sources as far down as 11° or 12° south, or one hundred and 
eighty miles below the southern extremity of the Tanganyika. 
The Chconbesi, which is a distinct river from the Zambesi^ 
which flows into the Mozambique Channel, rises, as Living- 
stone has found, in about eleven degrees south, and flows in a 
south-westerly direction into Lake Bangweolo, the southern 
shore of which touches the twelfth parallel of south latitude. 
Livingstone has traced the line of drainage from this lake by 
large rivers flowing north, first to Lake Moero, in the same lat- 
itude as the south end of Tanganyika, but about one hundred 
and twenty miles west of it, thence north-west to Kamolondo, 
a lake about two hundred and forty miles west of Tanganyika, 
and a degree, or thereabouts, south of the latitude of Ujiji,. thence 
northwards to a point at which he was obliged to turn, and 
which brought him near an unknown lake. This unknown 
lake lies in the latitude of the northern head of the Tangan- 
yika, and about the same distance west of it as Lake Kamo- 
londo, and if there should be a river flowing, as Dr. Living- - 
stone supposes there is, from this nameless water to the Albert 
N'Yanza, the southern shore of which is probably not more 
than two hundred miles to the northward, the connection be- 
tween the Chambesi, rising in twelve degrees south, and the 
Nile, flowins: into the Mediterranean in thirtv de2:rees north, 
will be complete. But this final link in the chain has yet to be 
proved, and some geogra))hers contend that the relative altitudes 
of the various waters will prevent it from ever being proved at 
all. But be that as it may, these are the localities of the great 
watershed which Dr. Livingstone was exploring during the 
long years of liis last, absence, and which begins two hundred 
miles soutii of Tanganyika, sweeps round • it to the west and 
north, and probably extends .to the Nile itself. ^ 



360 STANLEY AND LIVmOSTOI^E. 

It is eight years since Livingstone, in March, 1866, left Zan- 
zibar, and struck into the interior from Mikidindy Bay towards 
Lake Nyassa, which is about three liundred miles inland, and 
about the same distance south of Zanzibar. He remained in 
the neighborhood of this lake during the autumn of 1866. 
"When he started, his caravan had consisted of twelve Sepoys 
and of Johanna and other natives, in all about thirty men, be- 
sides a number of camels, mules, and donkeys to carry his 
cloth, beads, instruments, and supplies. He soon lost all his 
animals ; the Sepoys were a worthless and bad lot, and he was 
obliged to send them back to the coast; other natives deserted, 
and the Johanna men went off in a body and brought with 
them that fictitious story of the traveller's death which gave 
anxiety to many, but which was stoutly disbelieved by Sir 
Roderick Murchison. From ISTyassa he went north-w^est to the 
country of King Cazembe (the Londa of Livingstone's earlier 
journeys, and the Moluwa of Magyar), where he arrived early 
in 1867. He then explored the watershed of the river Chani- 
besi and of Lakes Bangweolo and Moero, and after being de- 
serted by all but two of his followers, and experiencing many 
great hardships and dangers, made his way to Ujiji, on Lake 
Tanganyika, in March, 1869. Thence he wrote those letters 
which, to the great joy of his friends everywhere, refuted the 
story of the Johanna men, and induced the English govern- 
ment in May, 1871, to grant £1,000 towards the relief of the 
traveller. Meantime, in 1868, Mr. Churchill, British Consul 
at Zanzibar, had despatched supplies and medicines to Ujiji, 
and Dr. Seward had also sent forward some quinine and stores 
for the same place. In .April, 1869, Dr. Kirk sent fourteen 
•men and a large caravan, and in February, 1871, the expedi- 
tion seen by Mr. Stanley at Bagamoyo, and which had been 
equipped with the Government money by Mr. Churchill and 
Dr. Kirk, was dispatched, — all for Ujiji. It is not known 
whether Mr. Churchill's and Dr. Seward's supplies, sent in 
1868, reached their destination, but Livingstone appears to have 
wanted for nothing when, in June, 1869, he quitted Ujiji, and 
went, in company with some Arab traders, to explore the dis- 
tant Manyuema country, on the west side of the Tanganyika. 
It was in this journey that he reached his farthest point north, 
and traced the watershed as far as the unknown lake. He was 
•compelled to return, partly by sickness, but chiefly because his 
men utterly refused to proceed further ; and, in bitter disap- 
pointment, he had to turn his back upon the great problem 
which he was on the eve of solving, making the weary journey 



STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 361 

of between four hundred and five hundred miles to Ujiji, 
from which he intended to start again with new men and 
fresh supplies. Writing to the Editor of the J^ew York Her- 
ald concerning this journey, he says : " I thought that I was 
dying on my feet. It is not too much to say that almost every 
step of the weary, sultry way, was in pain, and I reached 
Ujiji a mere ruckle of bones." This was in October, 1870. 
lie was more dead than alive, and had to endure the bitter 
disappointment of finding that the goods and men of Dr. 
Kirk's 1S69 expedition, to which he w^as trusting implicitly, 
had gone to the four winds. In the first place, this expedi- 
tion had been delayed, months and months, by the cholera, 
wliich had carried off many of its men ; and when, finally, 
such of the goods as had not been plundered arrived at Ujiji, 
they were sold off, and the proceeds dissipated by " the drunk- 
en half-caste Moslem tailor" to whom they had been entrusted. 
The traveller had nothing left but " a few barter cloths and 
beads," and beggary was staring him in the face, when, three 
weeks after his arrival in tJjiji, the N'ew York Herald qx^q- 
dition appeared on the scene and all was well. The men and 
goods which had left Bagamoyo, shortly before Mr. Stanley, 
were still at Unyanyembe, detained by a wry which Mr. Stan- 
ley had avoided by a long detour, and it is hard to say when 
the}^ might have reached the forlorn traveller for whose suc- 
cor they were intended. 

Such were the circumstances connected with the loss of Liv- 
ingstone, and such was the condition in which he was found. 

Stanley's first misfortune after leaving the coast was the 
death of his two horses, by some mysterious disease, not by the 
bite of the tsetse. The donkeys also perished ; the poor ani- 
mals died from bad weather, overwork, disease, and crocodiles, 
and not one of them reached Ujiji. The country through which 
the route lay was of varied aspect, dense forests, alternating 
with desert plateaux, and numerous small villages, while the 
entire face of the cultivable land was one vast field of grain. 
The road Avas a regular and beaten highway of trade ; many 
Arab caravans were passed, with large quantities of ivory, and 
many slaves. Three weeks out of Bagamoyo, Stanley met 
Salim Bin Rashid, " bound eastward, with a huge caravan car- 
rying three hundred ivory tusks," and he had something to say 
about Livingstone. lie had met the wayworn traveller at Ujiji, 
had lived in the next hut to him for two weeks, described hira 
as looking old, with long gray moustaches and beard, just re- 
covered from severe illness, looking very wan ; when fully re- 



362 STANLEY AND LIYINGSTONE. 

covered, Livingstone intended to visit a country called Man- 
ynema by way of Marunga. Bnt this was no news to Stanley, 
lor later information had already reached Zanzibar and Eng- 
land that Livingstone had started on this journey to a far 
country, but had not yet returned. Had Livingstone been still 
in Manyuema when Mr. Stanley arrived at Ujiji, there would 
probably have been some news of him there, whether he was 
living or dead, for Manynema is a trading country, and, in re- 
spect to a white man, intelligence travels very quickly in these 
parts. Praise is therefore due to Mr. Stanley, not merely be- 
cause he found Livingstone, but especially because he forced 
his way through all hindrances, and dared great dangers in 
order to reach Ujiji, where lie was nearly certain either to find 
the traveller or to obtain news of him. 

In a month after leaving Bagamoyo, the caravan reached 
Simbamwenni, " the lion city," in the fertile and populous val- 
ley of the Ungerengeri. The grasping Sultana exacted trib- 
ute of several doti (four-yard pieces) of cloth, and here Stanley 
was attacked with intermittent fever. It was the rainy season, 
and the weather was wretched ; the donkeys and the porters 
floundered along, half drowned in the flooded swamps and riv- 
ers. Farquhar had gone onwards in charge of one of the de- 
tachments, and news came that he was ill, and that his caravan 
was disorganized. lie was overtaken in a few days, and found 
laid up in his tent, suffering from a variety of ailments ; it was 
also found that he had squandered most wastefuUy a large 
portion of the cloth which he had with him. Shaw, the other 
sailor overseer, became sick also, and was lazy besides, and 
lagged with his detachment : men deserted, and donkeys sick- 
ened and died, but still the indomitable leader kept the caravan 
on the move, and made his way to the Mpwapwa hills; these 
presented beautiful views of wood and pasture, and the fertile 
plains abounded with villages. In one of these Farquhar was 
left, well cared for, but died in a few days. 

Arrivino; at XJo-oo-o, the Sultan exacted the uttermost tribute 
01 doti. All through the kingdom of Ugogo there are exten- 
sive flelds of grain, and a bold and independent people. The 
way was pleasant, but there were many village sultans who 
claimed honga ; the only method of progress was to pay them, 
and pass on. The agreeable was always mixed with its oppo- 
site — a porter would sicken of small-pox and be left by the 
roadside to die ; a donkey would prove unable to carry its load, 
and must be abandoned; the porters would be on the verge of 
mutiny one day, and the next would be singing songs in honor 



STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 363 

of the ''great master." But notwithstanding all drawbacks, 
they proceeded through a country of happy pastoral aspect, the 
lowing of cattle and the bleating of goats and sheep being 
heard everywhere, and entered Unyanyembe on the 23d of 
Jnne, 1871, ninet}^ days from Eagamoyo, with flags flying, 
horns blowing, and guns firing, every soldier in a new^ tarboosh 
and a clean white shirt, and every porter with his best cloth 
about his loins. 

The Arab merchants at Unyanyembe received Mr. Stanley 
with hospitable welcome ; but the news of the place was seri- 
ous — a certain Mirambo of Uyoweh had blocked the road to 
Ujiji, and declared that no caravan should pass through the 
country except over his dead body. This^was ruin to the Arab 
trade, and the merchants resolved to clear the road at once by 
force of arms ; in other words, to sally forth with their slaves, 
and make war upon Mirambo, till, as Soud, the son of Sayd, 
the son of Majid, said, " We have got his beard under our feet, 
and can travel through any part of the country with only our 
walking-canes in our liands." Stanley resolved to go with the 
Arab army, trusting that, after the defeat of Mirambo and his 
banditti, the road would be open towards Ujiji. The Arabs 
and their followers, two thousand two Inmdred and fifty-five, in 
number, one thousand five hundred being armed with muskets, 
mustered their forces at Mfuto, a trading-post and strongliolcl 
tln-ee days' journey on the way towards Ujiji, w^here Mr. Stan- 
ley, who had been delayed at Unyanyembe by a bad fever, 
joined them with his force of fifty men, and, leaving his goods 
at Mfuto, sallied out with the rest to engage Mirambo. They 
first of all took a palisaded village by storm, and two days later 
a forest chief was caught asleep, and his head " stretched back- 
wards and his head cut off, as though he were a goat or a 
sheep ; " and then Soud bin Sayd led five hundred men against 
Wilvankura, Mirambo's strono-liold. Driven to his tent bv a 
fever, Stanley remained with the main body, and was lying 
covered up with blankets, when the whole camp was suddenly 
thrown into consternation by the dismal news of the defeat 
and slaugliter of Soud bin Sayd and half his force. Wilyan- 
km*a had been captured, but the crafty Mirambo had laid an 
ambush, and massacred the Arabs and their followers as they 
were returning through tlie long grass, laden w^ith more than 
a lumdred tusks of ivory, sixty bales of cloth, and several hun- 
dred slaves. All that night the women of the camp howled 
for their husbands, and the next day there were stoi-my councils 
of war, ending in a general and sudden retreat to Mfuto. Mr 



364 STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 

Stanley staggered from liis tent to find himself deserted by all 
but seven of his own people. The donkeys were saddled and 
urged to a trot, and in an agony of pain and fever he followed 
the flying slaves and Arabs to Mfuto. Mfuto was reached at 
midnight. He found that all his men had arrived there before 
dark. Ulimengo,' a bold guide who had exulted in his weapons 
and in the number of Stanley's men, and had been very san- 
guine of victory, had performed the eleven hours' march in six 
hours ; Chowpereh, whom his master had regarded as one of 
the most faithful of his people, had arrived only half an hour 
later than Ulimengo ; and Khamasi, " a dandy, and an orator, 
and a rampant demagogue," had arrived the third. Speke's 
"faithfuls" had proved as cowardly as any of them all; and 
only Selim, an Arab boy from Jerusalem, had proved brave 
and true. Shaw proved that he possessed a soul as base and 
cowardly as that of any of the Negroes. 

Stanley returned with the beaten army to Unyanyembe ; 
Mirambo attacked the town, but was driven off. Not brook- 
ing this delay, Stanley determined to push for Ujiji by a 
southern detour, and so to circumvent Mirambo. He had 
to leave Shaw behind him, he being now incurably ill ; and he 
had to pay very high for porters ; but after a delay of three 
months in Unyanyembe, he finally triumphed over all his diffi- 
culties, and started for Ujiji on the 20th of September. Dr. 
Kirk's men, who had left Eagamoyo while he was there, had 
arrived at Unyanyembe on the 15th of May, a month before 
him. He offered to take the goods on with him to Ujiji, but 
Sheik bin Nasib, to whose care they had been consigned, 
would not hear of this, being sure that the white man was 
going on to his death. Mr. Stanley, however, took the letter- 
bag, and went on^vards, with a flying caravan of fifty-four 
men, carrying light loads of cloth, beads, ammunition, tents, 
medicines, and supplies. The march to Ujiji was a succession 
of fevers, desertions, the extortions of chiefs, wdth other delays 
and dangers. But the 3d of November arrived, and it was a 
day to be remembered : 

"About 10 A.M. appeared from the direction of Ujiji a cara- 
van of eighty Waguhha. We asked the news, and were told a 
white man had just arrived at Ujiji from Manyuema. This 
news startled us all. ' A white man ? ' we asked. ^ Yes, a white 
man,' they replied. 'How is he dressed ? ' ' Like the master, ' 
they answered, referring to me. ' Is he young or old ? ' ' He is 
old, and has white hair on his face, and is sick.' 'Where has 
he come from?' 'From a very far country away beyond 



8TAKLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 365 

Ugahha, called Manyiiema, ' ' Indeed ! and is he stopping at 
Ujiji now?' 'Yes, we saw him about eight days ago.' 'Do you 
think he will stop there until we see him ? ' ' Sigue ' (don't 
know). ' Was he ever at Ujiji before ? ' ' Yes, he went away 
a long time ago.' " 

Stanley now pushed on, stealing through the villages by night 
and travelling through a fine game country. The broad waters 
of the Tanganyika were sighted on the 10th of November, and 
with guns firing and the stars and stripes flying, the I^ew York 
Herald Expedition descended the hill and entered Ujiji. The 
news of the arrival of the white man's caravan had spread 
through the town, and the principal Arab merchants, Mahomed 
bin Sali, Sayd bin Majid, Abin bin Suliman, Mahomed bin 
Gharib, and others, were discussing the matter with Dr. 
Livingstone before the veranda of his house. Stanley says : 
" I pushed back the crowds, and, passing from the rear, walked 
down a living avenue of people, until I came in fix)nt of the 
semicircle of Arabs, in the front of which stood the white man 
with the gray beard. As I advanced slowly towards him, I 
noticed he was pale, had a gray beard, wore a bluish cap with 
a faded gold band round it, had on a red-sleeved waistcoat, and 
a pair of gray tweed trousers. I would have run towards him, 
only I was a coward in the presence of such a mob ; would 
have embraced him, only, he being an Englishman, I did not 
know how he would receive it; so I did what cowardice and 
false pride suggested was the best thing — ^walked deliberately 
to him, took off my hat, and said, ' Dr. Livingstone, I pre- 
sume % ' ' Yes,' said he with a kind smile, lifting his cap 
slightl3^ I replace my hat on my head and he puts on his cap, 
and we both grasp hands, and I then said aloud, ' I thank God, 
Doctor, I have been permitted to see you.' He answered, ' I 
feel thankful that I am here to welcome you.' " 

So it was that Mr. Stanley on November the 10th, 1871, the 
236th day from Bagamoyo, and the 51st from Unyanyembe, 
found Livingstone. 

The post-bag which Mr. Stanley had brought from Unyan- 
yembe had been just a year on the road from Zanzibar. It 
was now soon delivered, and the Doctor read letters from his 
children and friends and heard the great news of the world ; 
the Arabs sent dishes of chicken and rice, a , bottle of cham- 
pagne carried up from the coast for the great occasion was pro- 
duced, and Livingstone, wlio looked wan and weary, and had 
been complaining that he had no appetite, now ate like a hun- 
gry mai:», repeating, " You have brought me new life ; you have 



366 STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 

brought me new life." This was on the first day. IText morn- 
ing fir. Stanley told Livingstone the origin and history of his 
journey, which excited in the traveller emotions of cordial ap- 
preciation and thankfulness. 

At the time of Mr. Stanley's arrival, Livingstone possessed 
" but twenty cloths or so in the world," and, as he said himself, 
had " a near prospect of beggary among the Ujijians." It is 
true, the goods of Dr. Kirk's 1871 caravan were waiting at 
Unyanyembe, and in a few months, when the war with Mir- 
ambo was over and the roads were open, the Doctor and his 
live men would have had no difficulty in finding their way 
there with an Arab caravan, though he would have had to pay 
smartly for his escort. At Unyanyembe he would have heard 
new^s . of the Ilo3^al Geographical expedition, and when it 
joined him he might have resumed his journey with an excel- 
lent equipment, as he soon afterwards resumed it by means of 
other arrangements. But it ought to be remembered that Dr. 
Livingstone was in miserable health and spirits, and sinking ; 
and that, although the relief brought him by Mr. Stanley soon 
restored him, the great traveller might otherwise have died at 

Ujiji.^ 

Livingstone gave Stanley a general account of his explora- 
tions south and west of Lake Tanganyika, and particularly of 
those lakes and rivers of the connection of which with the Nile 
he had so firm a conviction. Geographers in Europe seem to 
be of opinion that he was npon the sources of the Congo, not 
those of the Kile, — the Congo being the great river which runs 
into the South Atlantic above Loanda. But this is a problem 
which remains to be solved. Livingstone had also much to tell of 
Rua and Manyueraa, countries beyond the Tanganyika, to which 
the Arab traders have only recently made their way, and where 
ivory is so plentiful that the people make their door-posts of 
great tusks. He ct)uld, moreover, speak of copper mines, and 
of the manufacture of finely woven and dyed grass-cloth, as 
well as of fertile districts dotted with towns and villages, in 
which the people had dwelt peacefully and happily till the 
Arabs came and desolated the land with the accursed slave- 
trade, lie himself witnessed one of their horrible massacres, 
when Tagamoyo, a half-caste Arab, and his gang of armed 
slaves opened fire suddenly in a crowded market-place, killing 
some four hundred men, women, and children. Livingstone 
writes of the " sore heart made still sorer by the woful sights" 
he had seen in this journey ; but expressly says that it was not 
these which deterred him from further exploring the country; 



STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 367 

but the conduct of his own followers, by whom he was '^baffled, 
worried, defeated, and forced to return when almost in sight of 
the end of the geoo^raphical part of his mission." 

On his way to Ujiji Stanley never turned to the right or the 
left ; for, as he says, he had come to Africa, not to explore the 
country or to shoot game, but to find Livingstone. But Living- 
stone being found, and after a time well and strong and in 
good spirits, Stanley's men and stores enabled the two travellers 
to solve a geographical problem which lay at their doors, and 
the solution of which was Mr. Stanley's direct claim to the 
Victoria medal. It was well known that the E-usisi E-iver 
joined the Tanganyika at its hekd, a hundred miles above 
Ujiji; but whether the river flowed into the lake, or out of it 
northward to the Albert N'Yanza and the Nile, had not been 
authoritatively determined. Sayd bin Majid's large canoe was 
therefore borrowed and loaded, and with a crew of sixteen of 
Stanley's men, Livingstone and he coasted the east side of the 
Tanganyika to its head, and found that the Rusisi flowed into 
the lake, as Burton had been told. They were absent from 
Ujiji four weeks, and, with the exception of another attack of 
fever from w^hich Mr. Stanley suffered, the cruise seems to have 
been most enjoyable. The shores were thickly dotted with 
Ashing villages, sending out their flotillas of canoes, while the 
plains were occupied with pasturing herds of cattle, and the 
hills wooded or clothed with green grass, bearing on their lower 
slopes Indian corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, and other crops. 
Tlie people seemed to be comfortable and happy, aud, as Mr. 
Stanley says, it is sad to think of them as bought up by the 
Arabs for a couple of doti of cloth, and taken away from 
such homes to Zanzibar to pick cloves or do hammel work, and be 
hi the mercy of imwise and unkind owners. The natives w^ere 
in general well disposed, always excepting the exaction of the 
customary " honga ; " but once or twice the cruisers found them- 
selves in dangerous quarters. The Bakari people called to 
them to come ashore, threatening them with vengeance of the 
great Wami if they did not. Of course they did not ; and 
wlxen they began to throw stones at the canoe, and one of their 
missiles came within a foot of Stanley's arm, he suggested that 
a bullet should be sent among them to teach them better man- 
ners, " but Livingstone, though he said nothing, jQt showed 
plainly enougli that he did not quite approve of this." 

At Bemba the canoe halted that the men might chip off a 
piece of pipe-clay to insure a safe voyage — a Wajiji supersti- 
tion generations old, if one may judge by the excavation which 



368 STANIpET and LIVINGSTONE. 

the observance of it has made in the chalk cliff. The natives 
seemed to be peacefully disposed, and the company in the 
canoe, going ashore, made their breakfast and waited; but ere 
long the drunken son of the chief came upon them, and by and 
by the father, also intoxicated, with a number of the people, and 
threatened to kill them, because the son of a former chief had 
been murdered at Ujiji. Livingstone was absent, having as- 
cended a hill the better to see the country, and Stanley was 
disposed to fight; but his more experienced companion, having 
returned, though with difficulty, by much tact and kindness 
succeeded in preserving the peace. The chief accepted their 
present, and they went on their way. 

They returned to Ujiji on the 13th of December, 18Y1, and 
several plans having been proposed and discussed, Livingstone 
finally resolved to accept as far as Unyanyembe the escort 
which was offered by his companion, and to wait at that place 
until the arrival of the men and stores necessary to enable him 
to resume his journey, and whicli Mr. Stanley undertook to 
forward to him immediately upon his arrival at Zanzibar. To 
wait at Unyanyembe was more especially needful in regard 
to the men, since, in accordance with Mr. Bennett's instrue- 
tions, " to help him should he require it," Stanley was about to 
make him a present of so large a quantity of stores that only a 
few extra articles would be necessary. Before leaving Ujiji 
Livingstone began writing up his " Mammoth Letts's Diary " 
from his field note-books. lie wrote also to his friends, and 
wrote also two long letters which heartily thanked Mr. Ben- 
nett, and which were in accordance with the special corre- 
spondent's instructions, to " get what news of his discoveries 
you can." In one of these letters he gives the following 
summary of what he had accomplished in the way of geograph- 
ical exploration, up to the time when he was driven back to 
Ujiji by the treachery of his followers : 

" I have ascertained that the water-shed of the WAq is a 
broad upland between ten degrees and twelve degrees south 
latitude, and from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the level of the 
sea. Mountains stand on it at various points, which, though 
not apparently very high, are between 6,000 and 7,000 feet of 
actual altitude. The water-shed is over 700 miles in length, 
from west to east. The springs that rise on it are almost in- 
numerable — that is, it would take a large part of a man's life 
to count them. A bird's-eye view of some parts of the water- 
shed would resemble the frost vegetation on window-panes. 
They all begin in an ooze at the head of a slightly depressed 






STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 369 

valley. A few hundred yards down, the quantity of water 
from oozing earthen sponge forms a brisk perennial burn or 
brook a few feet broad, and deep enough to require a bridge. 
These are tlie ultimate or primary sources of the great rivers 
that flow to the north in the Great Kile Valley. The primaries 
unite and form streams in general larger than the Isis at Ox- 
ford, or Avon at Hamilton, and may be called secondary 
sources. They never dr}^, but unite again into four large lines 
of drainage, the head waters or mains of the river of Egypt. 
These four are each called by the natives Lualaba, whicli, if 
not too pedantic, may be spoken of as lacustrine rivers, extant 
specimens of those ^vliich, in prehistoric times, abounded in 
Africa, and which in the south are still call bv Becliuanas 
'Melapo ;' in the north, by Arabs, ' Wadys,' both words mean- 
inoj the same thins: — river-bed in which no water ever now 
flows. Two of tlie four great rivers mentioned fall into tlie 
central Lualaba, or Webb's Lake Hiver, and then we have but 
two main lines of drainage as depicted nearly by Ptolemy. 

" The prevailing winds on the water-shed are from tlie 
south-east. This is easily observed bv the direction of the 
branches, and the humidity of the climate is apparent in, the 
numbers of lichens which make the upland forest look like the 
mangrove swamps on the coast. 

"• In passing over sixty miles of latitude, I waded thirty-two 
primai'y sources from calf to waist deep, and requiring from 
twenty minutes to an hour and a quarter to cross stream and 
sponge. Thio would give about one source to every two 
miles. 

" A Suaheli friend, in passing along part of the Lake Bang- 
weolo, during six. days counted twenty-two from thigh to waist 
deep. This lake is on the water-shed, for the village which 
I observed on its north-west shore was a few seconds into 
eleven degrees south, and its southern shores, and springs, and 
rivulets are certainlv in twelve des^rees south. I tried to 
cross it in order to measure the breadth accurately. The iii'st 
stage to an inhabited island was about twenty -four miles. 
From the highest point here the tops of the trees, evidently 
lifted by the mirage, could be seen on the second stage and 
the third stage ; the mainland v/as said to be as far as this be- 
yond it. But my canoe men had stolen the canoe and got a 
hint that the real owners were in pursuit, and got into a ilurry 
to return home. ' They would come back for me in a few 
days, truly,' but I had only my coverlet left to hire another 
craft if they should leave me in this wide expanse of water, 
24 



370 STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 

and being 4,000 feet above the sea it was very cold; so I 
returned. 

" The length of this lake is, at a very moderate estimate, 
150 miles. It gives forth a large body of water in the 
Luapula ; yet lakes are in no sense sources, for no large river 
begins in a lake ; but this and others serve ah important pur- 

f)0se in the phenomena of the Nile. It is one large lake, and 
unlike the Okaro, which, according to Suaheli, who travelled 
long in our company, is three or four lakes run into one huge 
Yictoria ISTyanza) gives out a large river, which, on departing 
out of Moero, is still larger. These men had spent many years 
east of Okara, and could scarcely be mistaken in saying that of 
the three or four lakes there, only one (the Okara) gives off its 
waters to the north. . . . 

" The great river, Webb's Lualaba, in the centre of the Nile 
Yalley, makes a great bend to the west, soon after leaving 
Lake Moero, of at least one hundred and eighty miles ; then, 
turning to the north for some distance, it makes another large 
sweep west of about one hundred and twenty miles, in the 
course of which about thirty miles of southing are made ; it 
then draws around to north-east, receives the Lomani, or 
Loeki, a large river which flows through Lake Lincoln. After 
the union a large lake is formed, with many inhabited islands 
in it ; but this has still to be explored. It is the fourth large 
lake in the central line of drainage, and cannot be Lake Al- 
bert; for, assuming Speke's longitude of Ujiji to be pretty 
-correct, and my reckoning not enormously wrong, the great 
central lacustrine river is about five degrees west of Upper and 
Lower Tanganyika. ... 

" Beyond the fourth lake the water passes, it is said, into 
large reedy lakes, and is in all probability Petherick's branch 
— the main stream of the Nile — in distinction from the 
:6maller eastern arm which Speke, Grant, and Baker took to be 
.the river of Eg3^pt.* 

" The Manyuema could give no information about their 
•country because they never travel. Blood feuds often prevent 
rthem from visiting villages three or four miles off, and many 
at a distance of thirty miles did not know the great river, 
•though named to them. - No traders had gone so far as I had, 
.^nd their people cared only for ivory. 

* The possibility of such a connection through Petherick's branch of the 
ITile has been disproved by the explorations of Dr. Schweinfurth, as will be 
«een in a subsequent chapter. 



STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE, 371 

" In my attempt to penetrate farther and farther I h?>d but 
little hope of ultimate success, for the great amount of westing 
led to a continued effort to suspend the judgment, lest, after 
all, I might be exploring the Congo instead of the Nile, and it 
was only after the two great western drains fell into the cen- 
tral main, and left but the two great lacustrine rivers of 
Ptolemy, that I felt pretty sure of being on the right track." 

In order to avoid the Mirambo war, which was still raging 
along the ordinary road to Ujiji, Mr. Stanley, who had travelled 
it, proposed a voyage of some sixty miles down the lake, that 
they might strike inland from Cape Tongwe to his former 
track, and follow its semicircular sweep to tlnyanyembe. The 
Doctor agreed, and the course answered perfectly. They kept 
Christmas Day at Ujiji wath royal fare of mutton from fat 
broad-tailed sheep and goats, with zogga and pombe, eggs, 
fresh milk, plantains, sing we, fine corn-flour, fish, onions, and 
sweet potatoes, and on the 27th of December the two canoes, 
hoisting, the one the American, and the other the British flag, 
left Ujiji. Cape Tongwe was safely reached, and the land 
journey commenced on the 7th of January, 1872 — Unyan- 
yembe being entered on the 18th of February, fifty-three days 
from Ujiji. On the road Mr. Stanley was racked with fevers, 
and Dr. Livingstone suffered from sore feet, but marched and 
ate " like a hero " ; and Mr. Stanley bears witness to his great 
powers of travel, his know^ledge of rocks, trees, fruits, and 
everything concerning Africa, as well as his skill in " camp- 
craft and all its cunning devices." 

Letters and papers for both travellers had met them a few 
marches before Unyanyembe. Dr. Kirk's caravan was still 
waiting. The provisions were in bad order, had been robbed, 
and were altogether in an unsatisfactory condition. Some 
shoes and stockings wliich had been sent by a friend, greatly 
deliglited Livingstone. " He tried them on, and exclaimed, 
' Richard is himself again.' " Stanley now gave Livingstone 
forty loads of stores and supplies, making, wdth the thirty loads 
sent by Dr. Kirk, a quantity sulficient for four years. 

Stanley left for the coast with Livingstone's letters and a 
sealed diary, and his own journals, on the 14th of March, and 
reached Bagamoyo on the 6tli of May. The up-jonrney over 
the same ground had taken one hundred days, but the home- 
ward marcli was accomplished in fifty-three. Stanley did good 
service to Livingstone in thus hurrying to Zanzibar to despatch 
as soon as possible the fifty men, the arms and ammunition, 
the nautical almanacs, the chronometers, and the other sup- 



372 STANLEY AND LI VINGSTONE. 

plies required before the traveller could start upon the final 
and decisive exploration of the great water-shed he had dis- 
covered. 

At Bagamoyo Stanley found tlie Royal Geographical 
Society's expedition, and all the world knows how Lieutenant 
Dawson and his subordinates threw up their commands in 
turn ; and how a costly expedition for which Dr. Livingstone, 
in his last letter, says that he could have found plenty of work, 
came to a fruitless end. The Geographical Society condemned 
this precipitancy on the part of Lieutenant Dawson as a 
" lamentable error of judgment," and there the matter had as 
well be left. 

Mr. Stanley, before leaving Zanzibar, enlisted men and or- 
ganized with the English money and stores available, and with 
the co-operation of Mr. Oswell Livingstone, the Doctor's son, 
who had been a member of the Geographical Society's expedi- 
tion, the additional caravan required by the traveller, and saw 
it start for Bagamoyo and the interior on the 17th of May. 
The last news from Dr. Livingstone, prior to tlie news of his 
death, was dated Unj^anyembe, July 1st, four months all but a 
few days after Mr. Stanley left him. He was still waiting for 
'^' the fifty men," who must soon have joined him. In this 
letter Dr. Livingstone informed Lord Granville that his pur- 
pose was, in this new journey, to round the south end of Tan- 
ganyika, proceed to Lake Bangweolo, and thence '^ go straight 
west to the ancient fountains reported at that end of the 
water-shed," visit the copper mines of Karanga, lakes Lincoln 
and Kamolondo, and thence retire along tlie latter lake to 
Ujiji and home. The " ancient fountains," Dr. Livingstone 
thought, may be the uttermost source of the whole Nile system 
referred to by Herodotus. It must be noted that this route 
was devoted to the verifying of the courses of the water-shed 
which Dr. Livingstone traced from 12° south to 4° south, 
a few miles short of the unknown lake near which he w^as 
compelled by his men to turn. But the extent of " the large, 
reedy lake" itself, and the direction of its waters, whether 
north to the Nile or west to the Congo, such a journey as Dr. 
Livingstone proposed would not have resolved. 

When Stanley arrived in England, he was received with a 
cordial welcome by the general public, and honored in many 
ways. Unhappily the Geographical Society and he did not 
for a short time understand each other, and strong words were 
employed by both parties ; but time and explanation and per- 
sonal courtesies softened down asperities, and the Society 



BTANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 373 

cordially awarded him the Victoria medal, while Queen Yic- 
toria accorded him a personal interview, and presented liim 
with a valuable memento of her appreciation of his great 
acliievement, and of the interest which she took in the welfare 
and the success of that great Englishman for whose relief and 
comfort he had done and dared so much. 

The Koyal Geograpliical Society soon afterwards came to the 
conclusion that, to be at all sure of helping Livingstone, and in 
order to the complete opening up of Africa, an expedition 
ought to start at once fj'om the western coast and the mouth 
of the Congo. As may be seen from any map of the continent, 
the great river Zaire, or Congo, flows into the Gulf of Guinea, 
and its channel, so far as traced, comes down from those same 
blank regions, of which Livingstone's discoveries are filling up 
the farther or eastern side. If the Lualaba does not emerge by 
the mouth of the Congo, it does not flow westward at all; if it 
does, and Livingstone had found himself upon the upper waters 
of this stream, an expedition sailing from its mouth would have 
the best chance of aiding him, and would at the same tinie have 
the opportunity of exploring the most mysterious country of 
Africa. Much might be accomplished in such an entei-prise for 
two thousand pounds, and this sum was most generously prom- 
ised and paid by Mr. Young, an old friend of Livingstone's, 
and who has also since added most munificently to his previous 
gifts. The leader of the expedition is Lieutenant Grandy, R. 
N., an ofiicer who has had much experience in the African 
rivers, and with the Kroomen, in the repression of the slave- 
trade. The undertaking is called the " Congo-Livingstone Ex- 
pedition" — a designation which emphasizes its double object — 
namely, to complete, if possible, the survey of this great stream, 
and to convey succor and comfort to the great traveller if, as 
the geographers confidently believed, he was really all the while 
upon the upper waters of the Congo, and not upon those of the 
Nile. The party started from St. Paul de Loanda, in 1873, 
and is now engaged in the work assigned to it. 

The Zaire, or Congo, is a magnificent river, more wonderful 
than the Nile even, if indeed the Lualaba feeds it. In any case, 
it is one of the greatest puzzles of African geography ; for when 
(he slate cliffs, which rise one hundred and forty miles from its 
mouth, are once passed, it broadens out into a majestic tide of 
five miles wide, with an extraordinary depth, while the verdure 
and j'iclmessof its upper reaches are amazing. Captain Tuckey 
did not ascend much higher than the slate-rocks, and the 
" shellals ; " but Le saw a wonderful region, and it was said that 



374 



STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 



beyond this lay a most populous, fei'tile, and salubrious district, 
nn visited by the foot of any European ; although by all accounts 
the very garden of the interior region. Marvellous forests, 
strange animals, picturesque scenery, nameless but precious 
productions, and vast swarms of men v^^aiting for trade and 
knowledge, are said to be found in that round white blot which 
still marks the best map of Africa. It may or may not be that 
Webb's Lualaba and the large volume of Lake Lincoln pour 
into the mighty and strange stream which, in the dry season of 
Loanga, often swells suddenly to some seven or eight extra feet 
of broad flood. But assuredly thoi^aire conceals notable secrets 
from science ; and while it may possibly not lead Lieutenant 
Grandy and his companions to Livingstone's ground, it is sure 
to conduct any competent explorers to most valuable dis- 
coveries. 

Mr. Stanley himself has just (November, 1874) left Zanzibar 
on another expedition, the precise objects of which have not yet 
been stated, but probably to complete the discoveries begun by 
Livingstone in his later journeys, and left unfinished by his 
death. 




CHAPTER XYII. 

LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

In the preceding chapter on Stanley and Livingstone a very 
brief outline of the latter's travels from the time le left 
Zanzibar in 1866 to his meeting witli Stanley at Ujiji six years 
later has already been given. This much was necessary in 
order to explain the object and circumstances of Stanley's 
expedition ; but, though it anticipates in some measure the 
more important features, it can. detract but little from the 
interest of the complete narrative of those travels which the 
publication of " Dr. Livingstone's Last Journals " now enables 
us to present. These Journals cover tlie entire period from 
the date of Livingstone's departure from Zanzibar on the 28th 
of Januarj^ 1866, to tlie day when his note-book dropped from 
his dying hand in the village of llala at the end of April, 
1873. The little that is needed for the elucidation of the 
numerous entries is supplied by the editor, Mr. Horace Waller ; 
but as both he and Livingstone have omitted to explain the 
origin and purpose of this last expedition, it will be well to 
do so briefly before entering upon the narrative. 

The reader will have seen in the last chapter but one that 
the Zambesi Expedition was substantially a failure ; and no 
one was more keenly alive to this fact than Livingstone him- 
self. He had not only expended immense sums of ferovernment 
money and some thousands of pounds of his own w^ith results 
which caused general and outspoken dissatisfaction, but his 
failure had brought the whole subject of African exploration 
for a time into disfavor; and he returned to England a soured 
and disappointed man. He wished to resume his explorations, 
but had not the means ; and, as the government had cast him off, 
it was only tln-ough the friendly aid of Sir Hoderick Murchison 
that he was enabled to make a new start. Sir Roderick pro- 
posed to Livingstone an expedition '' to define the true water- 
shed of Inner Southern Africa;" and after no little trouble 
secured from the government the sum 500^. and an unsalaried 
consulate to the chiefs of Inner Africa. The Council of the 
Geographical Society subscribed 500/. more, and other sub- 
scriptions were afterwards obtained in Bombay ; a '* valued 



376 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH, 

private friend," as Livingstone informs us, placed anothei 
thousand pounds at his disposal. Thus, before the close of 1865, 
Livingstone was once more in Africa ready to enter upon an 
expedition which, as we shall see, extended over a period of • 
more than seven years. 

The expedition Avas organized at Bombay, and crossed over 
to Zanzibar; but instead of striking inland from Bagamoyo 
on what was now a beaten a track, Livingstone sailed down 
the coast to Mikindany Bay near the mouth of the Rovuma 
Hiver, whence he set out overland for Lake Nyassa. His 
caravan consisted of thirteen Sepo\^s, ten Johanna men, and 
thirteen Africans, among whom were Cl^uma and Susi, who 
remained with him till he died and brought his body and 
Journals to the coast. He had also six camels, three buffaloes 
and a calf, two mules, and four donkeys. The march began 
on April 6th, 1866, and the route lay for a long distance 
directly up the Hovuma, or nearly due west. Nothing of 
special interest marked, the journey to* the L^ke, except the 
proof which it afforded at the very commencement that ihQjper- 
sonnel of the expedition was hopelessly unequal to the task which 
Livingstone had set before himself. The gross ill-usage of. 
the drivers and the bites of tsetse cost him all his animals 
except one donkey and the buffalo calf before the Lake was 
reached; the Sepoys first mutinied and subsequently proved 
so utterly worthless, that he was compelled to dismiss them ; 
the Johanna men, after clogging the march for three months, 
deserted in a body ; and one of the Nassick boys died, while 
another met some of his kindred and concluded to remain 
with them. The first hundred pages of the Journals indeed 
consist largely of records of difficulties caused chiefly by hjls 
own followers, and of devices for satisfying hunger, for which 
their folly and laziness was largely responsible. Before three 
months had passed, enough had occurred to discourage utterly 
any explorer less firm and self-confident than Livingstone ; but 
lie endured all with a patient fortitude which no obstacles 
could even temporarily depress. 

Even in this first stage of his long journey he came upon 
that " great open sore of the world " which throughout forms 
the most painful element of his narrative, and toward the 
healing of which it was his most consoling hope that his labors 
would contribute. As he neared the lake the track of the 
Arab slave-traders was several times crossed, and two or three 
extracts from the Journals will serve to show what scenes then 
met his eye : 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOUBNETS AND DEATH. 377 

" IWi June, 1866. — ^We passed by a woman tied by the neck 
to a tree and dead; the people of the country explained that 
she liad been unable to keep up with the other slaves in a gang, 
and her master had determined that she should not become the 
property of any one else if she recovered after resting for a 
time. I may mention here that we saw others tied up in a 
similar manner, and one lying in the path sliot or stabbed, for 
she was in a pool of blood. The explanation we got invari- 
ably was that the Arab who owned these victims wa^ enraged 
at losing his money by the slaves becoming unable to march, 
and vented his spleen by murdering them." 

" 2Qth June. — We passed a slave-woman shot or stabbed 
through the body and lying on the path ; a group of men stood 
about a hundred yards off on one side, and another of women 
on the other side, looking on ; they said an Arab who passed early 
that morning had done it in anger at losing the price he had 
given for her, because she was unable to walk any longer." 

" ^Ith June. — To-day we came upon a man dead from 
starvation, as he was very thin. One of our men wandered and 
found a number of slaves with slave-sticks on, abandoned by 
their master from want of food; they were too weak to be 
able to speak or say where they had come from ; some were 
quite young." 

Shocking as such incidents are, they are by no means the 
worst result of the slave-trade as conducted by the Arabs. 
Tribe is set against tribe, neighbor against neighbor, the chief 
against his people, and members of the family one against 
another, until every restraint or tie that can bind men together 
in communities is broken down, and whole districts are depop- 
ulated by mere proximity to the infamous traffic. Not the least 
discouraging feature of the business as described by Living- 
stone is the utter callousness of the natives even in cases where 
their own kindred are involved ; and the impossibility of awak- 
ening either shame or compunction, or any other sentiment 
except fear of personal consequences. 

At length on the 8th of August Lake Nyassa was reached 
at the confluence of the Masinje E-iver. " It was as if I had 
come back," says Livingstone, "to an old home I never ex- 
pected again to see ; and pleasant to bathe in the delicious 
waters again, hear the roar of the sea, and dash in the rollers." 
He remained here several days, working up his journal, map- 
making, and taking lunars and altitudes. The next stage of 
the march was to skirt the southern shore of the lake, so as to 
reach the west side, and this was accomplished by September 



378 L1VING8T0NE'8 LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

25tli. It had been Livingstone's intention to strike directly 
northwest from Lake Nyassa for Lake Tanganyika, but the 
danger of encountering the Mazitu, a fierce and warlike tribe 
who occupied the next district to the north, and who were 
constantly making forays upon the neighboring tribes, so 
terrified his people that he was compelled to make a long 
westing till he struck the Zalyanyama Mountains, a low range 
running northwest and southeast. Most of the region before 
these mountains are reached is lowlands, and filled witli 
"sponges;" Livingstone's description of the latter will stand 
the reader in good stead when lie comes to the constant mention 
of these obstructions in the later travels towards the north. 

" The bogs, or earthen sponges, of this country, occupy a 
most important part in its physical geography, and probably 
explain the annual inundations of most of the rivers. Wher- 
ever a plain sloping towards a narrow opening in hills or 
higher ground exists, there we have the conditions requisite 
for the formation of an African sponge. The vegetation, not 
being of a heathy or peat-forming kind, falls down, rots, and 
then forms rich black loam. In many cases a mass of this 
loam, two or three feet thick, rests on a bed of pure river sand, 
which is revealed by crabs and other aquatic animals bringing 
it to the surface. At present, in the dry season, the black loam 
is cracked in all directions, and the cracks are often as much 
as three inches wide, and very deep. The whole surface has 
now fallen down, and rests on the sand, but when the rains 
come, the first supply is nearly all absorbed in the sand. The 
black loam forms soft slush, and fioats on the sand. The nar- 
row opening prevents it from moving off in a landslip, but an 
oozing spring rises at that spot. All the pools in the lower 
portion of this spring-course are filled by the first rains, which 
happen south of the equator when the sun goes vertically over 
any spot. The second, or greater rains, happen in his course 
north again, when all the bogs and river-courses being wet, the 
supply runs off, and forms the inundation : this was certainly 
the case as observed on the Zambesi and Shire, and, taking the 
different times for the sun's passage north of the equator, it ex- 
plains the inundation of the Nile." 

Keeping the Zalyanyama range on the left, the march was 
now nearly due north over a level or rather gently undulating 
country, nearly bare of trees. Wild animals abounded ; large 
troops of elephants were occasionally seen, engaged for the 
most part in digging up roots which they seem to relish greatly ; 
buffaloes, and elans, and hartebeest were numerous ; and now 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH, 579 

and then a lion roared at them as they passed by. The people 
belong to the Manganja family, and are very industrious, com- 
bining agriculture and hunting witli nets with various handi- 
crafts, of which blacksmithing is the chief. The sound of the 
liammer is almost constant in the villages. This hammer is 
simply a large stone, bound with the strong inner bark of a 
tree, and loops left which form handles ; two pieces of bark 
form the tongs, and a big stone sunk into the ground the anvil ; 
the bellows consist of two goat-skins with sticks at the open 
ends, which are open and shut at every blast. Yet with these 
primitive tools, two men make sevei*al hoes in a day, and turn 
out other work of surprising excellence. The metal is very 
good ; it is all from yellow haematite, which abounds all over 
this part of the country. The people have quite the Grecian 
facial angle ; delicate features and limbs are common, and the 
spur-heel is as scarce as among Europeans ; small feet and 
hands are the rule. Many of the men have large slits in the 
lobe of the ear, and each tribe has its distinctive tattoo. The 
women indulge in this painful luxury more extensively than 
the men, probably because they have very few ornaments. 
The two central front teeth are hollowed at the cutting edge. 
They are very punctilious amongst each other. Clapping 
the hands in various ways is the polite way of saying " Allow 
me," " I beg pardon," '^Permit me to pass," " Thanks," etc; it 
is resorted to in respectful introduction and leave-taking, and 
also is equivalent to " hear, hear." A large ivory bracelet 
marks the headman of a village, but there is nothing else to 
show differences of rank. The chiefs were nearly all fi-iendly, 
and provided Livingstone's party with food and beer whenever 
he stopped with them ; in return he usually gave a cloth, and 
clothing being very scarce this was considered munificent."^ 
Owing to the Mazitu raids, however, food was in some places 
almost impossible to obtain, and more than once the caravan 
was on the verge of starvation. One custom which we believe 
has not been found to exist in any other part of Africa is men- 
tioned by Livingstone. In various villages he observed minia- 
ture huts, about two feet high, very neatly thatched and plas- 
tered. On inquiring what they were for, he was told that when 
a child or relative dies one is made, and when any pleasant 
food is cooked or beer brewed, a little is placed in the tiny hut 
for the departed soul, which is believed to enjoy it. 

The Loangwa River, the chief northern feeder of the Zam 

* A " cloth " means two yards of unbleached muslm. 



380 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

besi, was crossed on December 15th at about latitude 12° 45' S. 
The river is said to rise in the north ; it has alluvial banks with 
large forest trees along them, the bottom is sandy, and great 
sand-banks are in it, as in the Zambesi. The route beyond this 
lay for many days through the Mopane Forest, where there 
was abundance of wild game, including numerous varieties of 
birds ; so many new notes were heard that Livingstone regards 
it as probable that this is a richer ornithological region than 
even the Zambesi. The inhabitants are called Babisa. They 
have round bullet heads, snub noses, often high-cheek bones, 
an upward slant of the eyes, and look as if they -had a good 
deal of Bushman blood in them ; a good many, indeed, would 
pass for Bushmen or Hottentots. The women have the fashion 
of exposing the upper part of the buttocks by letting a very 
stiff cloth fall down behind. Their teeth are filed to points, 
they wear no lip-ring, and the hair is parted so as to lie in a 
net at the back part of the head. The mode of salutation 
among the men is to lie down nearly on the back, clapping the 
hands, and making a rather inelegant half-kissing sound with 
the lips. 

The Chambeze River was reached on the 26th of January, 
1867. During the march thither, all suffered keenly from 
hunger, and Livingstone met with a loss, the importance of 
which can hardly be exaggerated when we witness its effect 
month by month, on even his hardy frame. " There can be 
little doubt," says Mr. Waller, " that the severity of his subse- 
quent illnesses mainly turned upon it, and it is hardly "too much 
to believe that his constitution from this time was steadily 
sapped by the effects of fever-poison which he was powerless to 
counteract, owing to the want of quinine." Before quoting 
Livingstone's account of this loss it may be well to explain 
that after the desertion of the Johanna men he was obliged to 
rely on the natives through whose districts he passed not only 
for guides but for porters. 

" iotk January. — A guide refused, so we marched without 
one. The two Waiyau, who joined us at Kande's village, now 
deserted. They had been very faithful all the way, and 
took our part in every case. Knowing the language well, they 
were extremely useful, and no one thought that they would 
desert, for they were free men — their masters had been killed 
by the Mazitu — and this circumstance, and their uniform good 
conduct, made us trust them more than we should have done 
any others who had been slaves. But they left us in the forest, 
and heavy rain came on, which obliterated every vestige of 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 3S1 

their footsteps. To make tlie loss the more galling, they took 
what we could least spare — tlie medicine-box, wliich they would 
only throw away as soon as they came to examine their booty. 
One of these deserters exchanged his load that morning with a 
boy called Baraka, Avho had charge of the medicine-box, because 
he was so careful. This was done, because with the medicine- 
chest were packed tive large cloths and all Baraka's clothing 
and beads, of which he was very careful. The Waiyau also 
offered to carry this burden a stage to help Baraka, while he 
gave his own load, in which there was no cloth, in exchange. 
The forest was so dense and high, there was no chance of get- 
ting a glimpse of the fugitives, who took all the dishes, a large 
box of powder, the iiour we had purchased dearly to help ns as 
fai- as the Chambeze, the tools, two guns, and a cartridge-pouch ; 
but the medicine-chest was the sorest loss of all ! 1 felt as if I 
had now received the sentence of death, like poor Bishop 
Mackenzie. 

" All the other goods I had divided in case of loss or deser- 
tion, but had never dreamed of losing the precious qninine and 
other remedies ; other losses and annoyances I felt as just parrts 
of that undercurrent of vexations which is not wanting in 
even the smoothest life, and certainly not worthy of being 
moaned over in the experience of an explorer anxious to benefit 
a country and people — but this loss I feel most keenly." Every 
effort was made to intercept the runaways and recover the 
precious box; but they were fruitless, and it was not until 
Livingstone met Stanley at Ujiji live years later that he was 
again supplied with those medicines without which travel in 
Africa is so deadly. 

After crossing the Chambeze Livingstone found himself in a 
country called Lobemba, and on the 31st of January he reached 
the village of the head chief Chitapangwa. Chitapangwagave 
the travellers a grand reception and made a favorable impres- 
sion upon Livingstone at first by his jolly good-nature ; but sub- 
sequently he exhibited on a small scale all the rapacity of 
Kamrasi, and Livingstone was glad to get away after a stay of a 
few days. Holding a northwesterly course from this point, 
mimerous small rivers and rivulets were crossed, and on the 
31st of March, he came in sight of Lake Liemba, which subse- 
quent exploration proved to be the southern extremity of Lake 
Tanganyika. The spot where the Lake was first touched is in 
Lat. 8° W 54'^ S. Long. 31° 57' E. It was Livingstone's desire 
to march up the shore of the Lake and discover at once what 
its northern connections were ; but newa of a Mazitu raid in 



382 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

that direction compelled him to desist, and he concluded to 
strike westward, visit Casembe, and explore Lake Moero of 
which he had already heard rumors. This plan he carried out 
fully, in spite of many delays ; and after his arrival at 
Casembe's town, he wrote a despatch to Lord Clarendon dated 
December 10th, 1867 (which, however, was never sent) in which 
lie gives an epitomized description of his travels, and of his 
stay at Casembe.* This despatch is especially valuable because 
it treats of the geography of the whole district between Lakes 
Nyassaand Moero, and we reproduce it nearly entire : 

"... Lobisa, Lobemba, Ulungu, and Itawa-Lunda are the 
names by which the districts of an elevated region- between the 
parallels 11° and 8° south, and meridians 28°-33° long, east, 
are known. The altitude of this upland is from 4,000 to 6,000 
feet above the level of the sea. It is generally covered with 
forest, well watered by numerous rivulets, and comparatively 
cold. The soil is very I'ich, and yields abundantly wherever 
cultivated. This is the watershed between the Loangwa, a 
tributary ot the Zambesi, and several rivers which flow towards 
the north. Of the latter, the most remarkable is the Chambeze, 
for it assists in the formation of three lakes, and changes its 
name three times in the five or six hundred miles of its 
course. 

" On leaving Lobemba we entered Ulungu, and, as we 
proceeded northwards, perceived by the barometers and the 
courses of numerous rivulets, that a decided slope lay in that 
direction. A friendly old Ulungu chief, named Kasonso, on 
hearing that I wished to visit Lake Liemba, which lies in his 
country, gave his son with a large escort to guide me thither ; 
and on the 2d April last we reached the brim of the deep cup- 
like cavity in which the lake reposes. The descent is 2,000 feet, 
and still the surface of the water is upwards of 2,500 feet 
above the level of the sea. The sides of the hollow are very 
Bteep, and sometimes the rocks run the whole 2,000 feet sheer 
down to the water. Nowhere is there three miles of level 
land from the foot of the cliffs to the shore, but top, sides, and 
bottom are covei'ed' with well-grown wood and grass, except 
where the bare rocks protrude. The scenery is extremely 
beautiful. The ' Aeasy,' a stream of 15 yards broad and thigh 
deep came down alongside our precipitous path, and formed 

* This term is applied by Livingstone indiscriminately to the ruler, his town, 
and his country. Properly speaking-, as Livingstone explains in one place, 
Casembe is a title, and means general. The countiy of Casembe is called 
Londa or Lunda. 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 3S3 

cascades by leaping 300 feet at a time. These, with the bright 
red of the clay schists among the greenwood-trees, made the 
dullest of my attendants pause and remark with wonder. 
Antelopes, buffaloes, and elephants abound on the steep slopes ; 
and hippopotomi, crocodiles, and fish swarm in the water. 
Gnus are here unknown, and these animals may live to old age 
if not beguiled into pitfalls. The elephants sometimes eat the 
cr()p3 of the natives, and flap their big ears just outside the 
village stockades. One got out of our way on to a compara- 
tively level spot, and then stood and roared at us. Elsewhere 
they make clear off at sight of man. 

" The first villaore we came to on the banks of the Lake had 
a grove of palm-oil and other trees around it. This palm-tree 
was not the dwarf species seen on Lake Nyassa. A cluster of 
the fruit passed the door of my hut which required two men to 
carry it. The fruit seemed quite as large as those on the West 
Coast. Most of the natives live on two islands, where they 
cultivate the soil, rear goats, and catch fish. The lake is not 
large, from 15 to 20 miles broad, and from 30 to 40 long. It 
is the receptacle of four considerable streams, and sends out an 
arm two miles broad to the N.N.W., it is said to Tanganyika, 
and it may be a branch of that Lake. One of the streams, the 
Lonzua, drives a smooth bod}' of water into the Lake fifty 
yards broad and ten fathoms deep, bearing on its surface duck- 
weed and grassy islands. I could see the mouths of other 
streams, but got near enough to measure the Lofu only ; and at 
a ford fifty miles from the confluence it was 100 yards wide and 
waist deep in the dry season. 

'^ We remained six weeks on the shores of the Lake, trying 
to pick up some flesh and strength. A party of Arabs came 
into Ulungu after us in search of ivory, and hearing that an 
Englishman had preceded them, naturally inquired where I 
was. But our friends, the Biiulungu, suspecting that mischief 
was meant, stoutly denied that they had ever seen anything of 
the sort ; and then became very urgent that I should go on to 
one of the inhabited islands for safety.' I regret that I sus- 
pected them of intending to make me a prisoner there, which 
they could easily have done by removing the canoes ; but when 
the villagers who deceived the Arabs told me afterwards with 
an air of triumph how nicely they had managed, I saw that 
they had only been anxious for my safety. On three occasions 
the same friendly disposition was shown ; and when we went 
round the west side of the Lake in order to examine the arm 
or branch above referred to, the headman at the confluence of 



384: LIVIJTGSTOSE'S LAST JOUEITETS AND DEATH. 

the Lofu protested so strongly against my going — the Arahs 
had been fighting, and I might be mistaiven for an Arab, and 
killed — that I felt half-inclined to believe him. Two Arab 
slaves entered the village the same afternoon in search of ivory, 
and confirmed all he had said. We now altered our course^, 
intending to go south about the district disturbedby the Arabs. 
When we had gone 60 miles we heard that the head -quarters of 
the Arabs were 22 miles farther. They had found ivory very 
cheap, and pushed on to the west, till attacked by a chief 
named Nsama, whom they beat in his own stockade. They 
were now at a loss which way to turn. On reaching Cliitimba's 
village (lat. 8° 5r 55^^ 8. ; long. 30° 20' E.), I found them about 
600 in all ; and, on presenting a letter I had from the Sultan of 
Zanzibar, was immediately supplied with provisions, beads, and 
cloth. They approved of my plan of passing to the south of 
Nsama's country, but advised waiting till the effects of punish- 
ment, which the Baulungu had resolved to inflict on Ksamafor 
breach of public law, were known. It had always been under- 
stood that whoever brought goods into the couutr}^ was to be 
protected ; and two hours after my arrival at Chitimba's, the 
son of Kasonso, our guide, marched in with his contingent. It 
was anticipated that Nsama might flee ; if to the north, he 
would leave me a free passage through his country ; if to tlie 
south, I might be saved from w^alking into his hands. But it 
turned out that Nsaraa w^as anxious for peace. He had sent 
two men with elephants' tusks to begin a negotiation ; but 
treachery was suspected, and they were shot down. Another 
effort was made with ten goats, and repulsed. This was much 
to the regret of the head Arabs. It was fortunate for me that 
the Arab goods ^vere not all sold, for Lake Moero lay in Ksama's 
country, and without peace no ivory could be bought, nor could 
I reach the Lake. The peace-making between the people and 
Arabs was, how^ever, a tedious process, occupying three and a 
half months drinking each other's blood. This, as I saw it 
west of this in 1854:, is not more horrible than the thirtieth 
dilution of deadly nisjht-shade or strychnine is in homoeopathy. 
I thought that had I been an Arab I could easily swallow that, 
but not the next means of cementing the peace — marrying a 
black wife. Ksama's daughter was the bride, and she turned 
out very pretty. She came riding pickaback on a man's 
shoulders ; this is the most dignified conveyance that chiefs and 
their families can command. She had ten maids with her, each 
carrying a basket of provisions, and all having the same 
beajitiful features as herself. She was taken by the principal 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH, 385 

Arab, but soon showed that she preferred her father to her 
husband, for seeing preparations made to send oft" to purchase 
ivory, she suspected that her father was to be attacked, and 
made her escape. I then visited Nsama, and, as he objected to 
many people coming near him, took only three of my eight 
attendants. His people were very much afraid of fire-arms, 
and felt all my clothing to see if I had any concealed on my 
person. Nsama is an old man, with head and face like those 
sculptured on the Assyrian monuments. lie has been a great 
conqueror in his time, and with bows and arrows was invincible. 
He is said to have destroyed many native traders from Tangan- 
yika, but twenty Arab guns made him flee from his own 
stockade, and caused a great sensation in the country. lie was 
much taken with my hair and woolen clothing ; but his people, 
heedless of his scolding, so pressed upon us that we could not 
converse, and, after promising to send for me to talk during the 
night, our interview ended. He promised guides to Moero, and 
sent us more provisions than we could carry ; but showed sc 
much distrust, that after all we went without his assistance. 

" Nsama's people are particularly handsome. Many of the 
men have as beautiful heads as one could find in an assembly 
of Europeans. All have very fine forms, with small hands and 
feet. None of the West-coast ugliness, from which most ol 
our ideas of the Negroes are derived, is here to be seen. Nc 
prognathous jaws nor lark heels offende4 the sight. My ob- 
servations deepened the impression first obtained from the re- 
marks of Winwood Reade, that the typical Negro is seen in the 
ancient Egyptian, and not in the ungainly forms which grow 
up in the unhealthy swamps of the West Coast. Indeed it is 
probable that this upland forest region is the true home of the 
Negro. The women excited the admiration of the Arabs. 
They have fine, small, well-formed features: their great defect 
is one of fashion, which does not extend to the next tribe; they 
file their teeth to points, the hussies, and that makes their smile 
like that of the crocodile. 

" Nsama- s country is called Itawa, and his principal town is 
in lat. 8"^ 55' S., and loner. 29° 21' E. From the large popula- 
tion he had under him, Itawa is in many parts well cleared of 
trees for cultivation, and it is lower than Ulungu, being gener- 
ally about 3,000 feet above the sea. Long lines of tree-cov- 
ered hills raised some 600 or TOO feet above these valleys of de 
nudation,. prevent the scenery from being monotonous. Large 
game is abundant. Elephants, buffaloes, and zebras grazed in 
large numbers on the long sloping banks of a river called Chis- 
25 



386 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

era, a mile and a half broad. In going north we crossed this 
river, or rather marsh, which is full of papyrus plants and 
reeds. Our ford was an elephant's path ; and the roots of the 
papyrus, though a carpet to these animals, were sharp and sore 
to feet usually protected by shoes, and often made us shrink 
and flounder into holes chest deep. The Chisera forms a 
larger marsh^west of this, and it gives off its water to the Ka- 
longosi, a feeder of Lake Moero. 

" The Arabs sent out men in all directions to purchase 
ivory; but their victory over ISTsama had created a panic 
among the tribes, which no verbal assurances could allay. If 
J^sama had been routed by twenty Arab guns no one could 
stand before them but Casembe ; and Casembe had issued 
strict orders to his people not to allow the Arabs who fought 
ISTsama to enter his country. They did not attempt to force 
their way, but after sending friendly messages and presents to 
different chiefs, when these were not cordially received, turned 
■off in some other direction, and at last, despairing of more 
ivory, turned homewards. From first to last they were ex- 
tremely kind to me, and showed all due respect to the Sultan's 
letter. I am glad that I was witness to their mode of trading 
in ivory and slaves. It formed a complete contrast to the atro- 
cious dealings of the Kilwa traders, who are supposed to be, 
but are not, the subjects of the same Sultan. If one wished 
to depict the slave-trade in its most attractive, or rather least 
objectionable form, he would accompany these gentlemen sub- 
jects of the Sultan of Zanzibar.* If he would describe the 
land traffic in its most disgusting phases, he would follow the 
Kilwa traders along the road to Nyassa, or tlie Portuguese 
.half-castes from Tette to the E-iver Shire. 

^' Keeping to the north of Nsama altogether, and moving 
westwards, our small party reached the north end of Moero on 
rthe 8th of November last. There the Lake is a goodly piece 
'Of water twelve or more miles broad, and flanked on the east 
.-and west by ranges of lofty tree-covered mountains. The 
range on the west is the highest, and is part of the country 
called Rua-Moero ; it gives off a river at its northwest end 
called Lualaba, and receives the Kiver Kalongosi (pronounced 
by the Arabs Karungwesi) on the east near its middle, and the 
j-ivers Luapula and Rovukwe at its southern extremity. The 
point of most interest in Lake Moero is that it forms one of a 

* It will be seen further on that Livingstone found abundant reason to 
icliang-e this opinion, and to convince him that the degrading traffic is sub- 
(Stantially the same by whomsoever carried on. 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOTIIiNETS AND BEATE. 387 

chain of lakes, connected by a river some 500 miles in length. 
Fii'st of all the Chambeze rises in the country of Mambwe, 
N.E. of Molcmba. It then flows southwest and west till it 
i-eaches lat. 11° S., and long. 29° E., where it forms Lake 
Bemba or Bangweolo, emerging thence it assumes the new 
name Luapula, and comes down here to fall into Moero. On 
going out of this Lake it is known by the name Lualaba, as it 
tlov/s N.W. in Kua to form another lake with many islands 
called Urenge or Ulenge. Beyond this, information is not 
positive as to whether it enters Tanganyika or another Lake 
beyond that. When I crossed the Chambeze, the similarity of 
names led me to imagine that this was a branch of the Zam- 
besi. The natives said ' No. This goes southwest, and forms 
a very large water there.' But I had become prepossessed 
v/ith the idea that Lake Liemba was that Bemba of which I 
had heard in 18G3, and we had been so starved in the south 
that I gladly set my face north. The river-like prolono-ation 
of Liemba might go to Moero, and where I could not follow 
the arm of Liemba. Then I worked my way to this lake. 
Since coming to Casembe's the testimony of natives and Arabs 
has been so united and consistent, that I am but ten days from 
Lake Bemba or Bangweolo, that I cannot doubt its accuracy. 
I am so tii'ed of exploration without a word from home or any- 
where else for two years, that I must go to Ujiji on Tangan- 
yika for letters before doing anything else. The banks and 
country adjacent to Lake Bangweolo are reported to be now 
very muddy and very unhealthy. I have no medicine. The 
inhabitants suffer greatly from swelled thyroid gland or Derby- 
shire neck and elephantiasis, and this is the rainy season and 
very unsafe for me. 

^' When at the lower end of Moero we were so near Casembe 
that it was thought well to ascertain the length. of the Lake, 
and see Casembe too. We came up between the double range 
that flanks the east of the Lake ; but mountains and plains are 
so covered with well-grown forest that we could seldom see it. 
Yv^e reached Casembe's town on the 2Sth November. It stands 
near the north end of the Lakelet Mofwe ; this is from one to 
three miles broad, and some six or seven long : it is full of 
sedgy islands, and abounds in fish. The country is quite level, 
but fifteen or twent}" miles west of Mofwe we see a long range 
of the mountains of Rua. Between this range and Mofwe the 
Luapula flows past into Moero, the Lake called Moero okata 
= the great Moero, being about fifty miles long. The town of 
Casembe covers a mile square of cassava plantations, the huts 



I 388 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

being dotted over that space. Some have square enclosures of 
reeds, but no attempt has been made at arrangement : it might 
be called a rural village rather than a town. No estimate 
could be formed by counting the huts, they were so irregularly 
planted, and hidden by cassava ; but my impression from other 
collections of huts was that the population was under a thou- 
sand souls. The court or compound of Casembe — some would 
call it a palace — is a square enclosure of 300 yards by 200 
yards. It is surrounded by a hedge of high reeds. Inside, 
where Casembe honored me with a grand reception, stands a 
gigantic hut for Casembe, and a score of small huts for domes- 
tics. The Queen's hut stands behind that of the chief, with a 
number of small huts also. Most of the enclosed space is cov- 
ered with a plantation of cassava, Gurcus purgaris, and cotton. 
Casembe sat before his hut on a square seat placed on lion and 
|t leopard skins. He was clothed in a coarse blue and white 

Manchester print edged with red baize, and arranged in large 
folds so as to look like a crinoline put on wrong side foremost. 
His arms, legs, and head were covered with sleeves, leggings 
and cap made of various colored beads in neat patterns : a 
crown of yellow feathers surmounted his cap. Each of his 
head-men came forward, shaded by a huge, ill-made umbrella, 
and followed by his dependants, made obeisance to Casembe, 
and sat down on his right and left : various bands of musicians 
did the same. When called upon I rose and bowed, and an 
old counsellor, with his ears cropped, gave the chief as full an 
account as he had been able to gather during our stay of the 
English in general, and my antecedents in particular. My 
having passed through Lunda to the west of Casembe, and 
visited chiefs of whom he scarcely knew anything, excited 
most attention. He then assured me that I was welcome to 
his country, to go where I liked, and do what I chose. AYe 
then went (two boys carrying his train behind him) to an inner 
apartment, where the articles of my present were exhibited in 
detail. He had examined them priva|ely before, and we knew 
that he was satisfied. They consisted of eight yards of orange- 
colored serge, a large striped tablecloth ; another large cloth 
made at Manchester in imitation of West Coast native manu- 
facture, which never fails to excite the admiration of Arabs 
and natives, and a large richly gilded comb for the back hair, 
such as ladies wore fifty years ago : this was given to me by a 
friend at Liverpool, and as Casembe and Nsama's people culti- 
vate the hair into large knobs behind, I was sure that this arti- 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 389 

cle would tickle tlie fanc3\ Casembe expressed himself 
})leased, and again bade me welcome. 

" I had another interview, and tried to dissuade him from 
selling his people as slaves. He listened awhile, then broke 
off into a tirade on the greatness of his country, his power and 
dominion, which Mohamad bin Saleh, wdio has been here for 




HEAD-DRESSES IN LONDA (LUNDA). 



ten years, turned into ridicule, and made the audience laugh 
by telling how other Lunda chiefs had given me oxen and 
sheep, while Casembe had only a poor little goat and some fish 
to bestow. He insisted also that tliere were but two sovereigns 
in the world, the Sultan of Zanzibar and Victoria. When we 
went on a third occasion to bid Casembe farewell, he was much 



390 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

less distant, and gave me the impression that I could soon be- 
come friends with him ; but he has an ungainly look, and an 
outward squint in each eye. A number of human skulls 
adorned the entrance to his courtyard; and great numbers of 
his principal men having their ears cropped, and some with 
their hands lopped off, showed his barbarous way of making 
his ministers attentive and honest. I could not avoid indulg- 
ing a prejudice against him. 

" The Portuguese visited Casembe long ago ; but as each new 
Casembe builds a new town, it is not easy to tix on the exact spot 
to which strangers came. The last seven Casembes have had 
their towns within seven miles of the present one. Dr. Lacerda, 
Governor of Tette, on the Zambesi, was the only visitor of scien- 
tific attainments, and he died at the rivulet called Chungu, 
three or four miles from this. The spot is called Nshinda, 
or Inchinda, which the Portuguese wrote Lucenda or Ucenda. 
The latitude given is nearly fifty miles wrong, but the natives 
say that he lived only ten days after his arrival, and if, as is 
probable, his mind was clouded with fever when he last ob- 
served, those who have experienced what that is will readily 
excuse any mistake he may have made. His object was to ac- 
complish a much-desired project of the Portuguese to have an 
overland communication between their eastern and western 
possessions. This was never made by any of the Portuguese 
nation ; but two black traders succeeded partially with a part 
of the distance, crossing once from Cassange, in Angola, to 
Tette on the Zambesi, and returning with a letter from the 
Governor of Mosambique. It is remarkable that this journey 
which was less by a thousand miles than from sea to sea and 
back again, should have forever quenched all white Portuguese 
aspirations for an overland route. 

" The different Casembes visited by the Portuguese seem to 
have varied much in character and otherwise. Pereira, the 
first visitor, said (I quote from memory) that Casembe had 
20,000 trained soldiers, watered his streets daily, and sacrificed 
twenty human victims every day. I could hear nothing of 
human sacrifices now, and it is questionable if the present 
Casembe could bring a thousand stragglers into the field. 
When he usurped power five years ago, his country was densely 
peopled ; but he was so severe in his punishments — cropping 
the ears, lopping off the hands, and other multilations, selling 
the children for very slight offences, that his subjects grad- 
ually dispersed themselves in the neighboring countries be- 
yond his power. This is the common mode by which tyranny 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 391 

is cured in parts like these, where fugitives are never returned. 
The present Casembe is verj poor. When he had people wlio 
killed elephants he was too stingy to share the profits 
of the sale of the ivory with liis subordinates. The elephant 
hunters have either left him or neglect hunting, so he has no 
tusks to sell to the Arab traders who come from Tanganyika. 
Major Monteiro, the third Portuguese who visited Casembe, 
appears to have been badly treated by this man's predecessor, 
and no other of his nation lias ventured so far since. They do 
not lose much by remaining away, for a little ivory and slaves 
are all that Casembe ever can have to sell. About a month to 
the west of this the people of Katanga smelt copj^er-ore 
(malachite) into large bars shaped like the capital letter I. 
They may be met with of from 50 lbs. to 100 lbs. weight all 
over the country, and the inhabitants draw the copper into wire 
for armlets and leglets. Gold is also found at Katanga, and 
specimens were lately sent to the Sultan of Zanzibar. 

" As we come down from the watershed toward Tanganyika 
we enter an area of the earth's surface still disturbed by inter- 
nal igneous action. A hot fountain in the country of Nsama 
is often used to boil cassava and maize. Earthquakes are by 
no means rare. We experienced the shock of one while at 
Chitimba's village, and they extend as far as Cassembe's. I 
felt as if afloat, and as huts would not fall there was no sense 
of danger ; some of them that happened at night set the fowls 
a-cacklins;. The most remarkable effect of this one was that 
it changed the rates of the chronometers ; no rain fell after it. 
No one had access to th(5 chronometers but myself, and, as I 
never heard of this effect before, I may mention that one which 
lost with great regularity Vo daily, lost IS' ; another, whose 
rate since leaving the coast was 15", lost 40'; and a third, 
which gained 6' daily, stopped altogether. Some of Nsama's 
people ascribed the earthquakes to the hot fountain, because it 
showed unusual commotion on these occasions ; another hot 
fountain exists nearer Tanganyika thai> ISTsama's, and we 
passed one on the shores of Moero. 

" AVe could not understand why the natives called Moero 
much larger than Tanganyika till we saw both. The greater 
Lake lies in a comparatively narrow trough, with highland on 
each side, which is always visible ; but when we look at Moero, 
to the south of the mountains of llua on the west, we have 
nothing but an apparently boundless sea horizon. The Luapula 
and Rovukwe form a marsh at the southern extremity, and 
Casembe dissuaded me from entering it, but sent a man to 



392 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

guide me to diiferent points of Moero further down. Frora 
the heights at which the southern portions were seen, it must he 
from forty to sixty miles broad. From the south end of the 
mountains of Kua (9° 4! south lat.) it is thirty-three miles 
broad. No native ever attempts to cross it even here. Its 
fisheries are of great value to the inhabitants, and the produce 
is carried to great distances." 

A few days after his arrivel at Lake Liemba, Livingstone 
had an attack which showed him the power of fever when un- 
checked by medicine, and a recm-rence of his symptoms at Ca- 
sembe's made himt anxious to proceed to Ujiji in order to re- 
cuperate and replenish his stores before pursuing his explora- 
tions. He actually set out for Lake Tanganyika, but was soon 
convinced that the intervening country was impassable until 
the rainy season was over. This involved a delay of several 
months, and before these had passed and the season for travel 
come round again, he had determined to explore Lake Bang- 
weolo before going north. He hoped to complete the explora- 
tion early in 1868 ; but owing first to the desertion of several 
of his men who refused to turn back, and secondly to Ca- 
sembe's postponements and delays, it was the 11th of June 
(1868) before he started from Casembe's town on his way south. 
His journey was wholly without incident requiring special 
mention, unless we except one which has rather more of a per- 
sonal interest than Livingstone often imparted even to his pri- 
vate diaries. Under date of June 25th he writes : — " We came 
to a grave in the forest ; it was a little rounded mound as if 
the occupant sat in it in the usual native way : it was strewed 
over with fiour, and a number of the large blue beads put on it : 
a little path showed that it had visitors. This is a sort of 
grave I should prefer : to lie in the still, still forest, and no 
hand ever disturb my bones. The graves at home always seem 
to me to be miserable, especially those in the cold damp clay, 
and without elbow room ; but I have nothing to do but wait 
till He who is over all, decides where I have to la}' me down 
and die. Poor Mary lies on Shupanga brae, ' and beeks f or- 
nent the sun.' " * 

It was on the 18th of July that Dr. Livingstone discovered 
one of the largest of the Central African Lakes ; and it is ex- 
traordinary to notice the total absence of all pride and enthu- 
siasm, as — almost parentheticallj^ — he records the fact. " lltJi 
and ISth July. — Reached the chief village of Mapuni, near 

■ * The allusion is to Mrs. Livingstone's grave. 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 393 

the north bank of Bangweolo. On the 18th I walked a little 
way out, and saw tiie shores of the Lake for the first time, 
thankful that I had come safely hither." lie made a canoe 
voyage during the next few days which gave him an idea of 
its size, and he thinks he is considerably within the mark in 
setting down Bangweolo as 150 miles long, by 80 broad. Its 
northern edge extends a little north of 11° S. lat., while its 
southern shore just touches upon 12°. The Luapula Kiver, 
which forms its outlet at the western end, is an arm of the Lake 
for some 20 miles, and beyond that is never narrower than from 
180 to 200 yards, generally much broader. The Lake contains 
four large islands, but even the largest, Chirubi, does not in the 
least dwarf the enormous mass of the water of Bangweolo. 
The countiy around the Lake is all flat, and very much de- 
nuded of trees, except the Motsikisi or Mosikisi, which has 
fine dark, dense foliage, and is spared for its shade and for the 
fatty oil yielded by its seeds : Livingstone saw the people boil- 
ing large pots full of the dark-brown fat, which they use as a 
pomade for their hair. All the islands are flat, but well peo- 
pled. The men have many canoes, and are all expert fisher- 
men ; they are called Mbozhwa, but are marked on the fore- 
head and chin as Babisa, and file the teeth to points. They 
have many children, as fishermen usually have. The women 
ornament their hair with strings of cowries, and lubricate it 
freely with the oil mentioned above. 

On his way back from the lake, Livingstone found that his 
Arab associates of the last few months had taken up Ca- 
sembe's cause against the devastating hordes of the Mazitu, 
who had swept down on these parts, and repulsed them. But 
here a fresh complication arose. Casembe and Chikumbi, one 
of his principal chiefs, became alarmed lest the Arabs, feeling 
their own power, should turn upon them and take possession of 
the whole country, so they joined forces and attempted to 
storm the stockade of Kombokombo, one of the leading Arabs. 
Tliey suffered a severe defeat in this attempt ; but the whole 
country was thrown into confusion, all w^as turmoil and panic, 
and for several months travel or exploration was rendered im- 
possible. During this period, Livingstone seems to have been 
unable to find opportunity to make daily entries in his journal ; 
several times his life was in imminent danger ; but he took 
advantage of his recent experience and enforced leisure to 
write out an elaborate treatise on the climate of this region, 
which is exceedingly important, bearing as it does upon the 
question of the periodical floods on the rivers which drain the 



394: LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

enormoas cistern-lakes of Central Africa. It has an additional 
interest too from the fact that it brings forward for the lii'st 
time, Livingstone's theory as to the primary or ultimate sources 
of the Nile." 

" The notion of a rainy zone, in which the clouds deposit 
their treasures in perpetual showers, has received no confirma- 
tion from my observations. In 1866-7, the rainfall was 42 
inches. In 1867-8, it amounted to 53 inches: this is nearly 
the same as falls in the same latitudes on the West Coast. In 
both years the rains ceased entirely in May, and wath the excep- 
tion of two partial thunder showers on the middle of the water- 
shed, no rain fell till the middle and end of October, and then, 
even in November, it was partial, and limited to small patches of 
country ; but scarcely a day passed between October and May 
without a good deal of thunder. When the thunder began to roll 
or rumble, that was taken by the natives as an indication of the 
near cessation of the rains. The middle of the watershed is 
the most humid part : one sees the great humidity of its cli- 
mate at once in the trees, old and young, being thickly cov- 
ered with lichens ; some flat, on the trunks and branches ; 
others long and thready, like the beards of old men waving in 
the wdnd. Large orchids on the trees in company with the 
profusion of lichens are seen nowhere else, except in the man- 
grove swamps of the sea-coast. 

" I cannot account for the great humidity of the watershed as 
compared with the rest of the country, but by the prevailing 
, winds and the rains being from the south-east, and thus from the 
Indian Ocean : with this wind generally on the surface one can 
observe an upper strong wind from the north-west, that is, from 
the low humid West Coast and Atlantic Ocean. The double 
strata of wind can easily be observed when there are two sheets 
of clouds, or when burning grass over scores of square miles 
sends up smoke sufficiently high to be caught by the upper or 
north-west wind. These winds probably meet during the 
heavy rains : now in August they overlap each other. The 
probability arises from all continued rains within the tropics 
coming in the opposite direction from the prevailing wind of 
the year. Partial rains are usually from the south-east. 

" The direction of the prevailing wind of this region is well 
marked on the islands in L^ke Bangweolo: the trunks are 
bent away from the south-east, and the branches on that side 
are stunted or killed ; while those on the north-west run out 
straight and make the trees appear lopsided. The same bend 
away from the south-east is seen on all exposed situations, as 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 395 

in the trees covering the brow of a hill. At Kizinga,*^ 
which is higher than the Lake, the trees are covered with 
lichens, chiefly on the south-east sides, and on the upper sur- 
faces of brandies, running away horizontally to or from the 
north-west. Plants and trees, which elsewhere in Africa grow 
only on the banks of streams and other damp localities, are 
seen flourishing all over the country : the very rocks are cov- 
ered with lichens, and their crevices with ferns. 

"" But that which demonstrates the humidity of the climate 
most strikingly is the number of earthern sponges or oozes 
met with. In going to Bangweolo from Kizinga, I crossed 
twenty -nine of these reservoirs in thirty miles of latitude, on 
a south-east course: this may give about one sponge for every 
two miles. The word 'Bog' conveys much of the idea of 
these earthen sponges ; but it is inseparably connected in our 
minds with peat, and these contain not a particle of peat ; 
they consist of black, porous earth, covered with a hard, wiry 
grass, and a few other damp-loving plants. In many places 
the sponges hold large quantities of the oxide of iron, from 
the big patches of brown haematite that crop out every- 
where, and streams of this oxide, as thick as treacle, are seen 
moving slowly along in the sponge-like small red glaciers. 
When one treads on the black earth of the sponge, though lit- 
tle or no water appears on the surface, it is frequently squirted 
up the limbs, and gives the idea of a sponge. In the paths 
that cross them, the earth readily; becomes soft mud, but sinks 
I'apidly to the bottom again, as if of great specific gravity : 
'the water in them is alwavs circulatinej and oozinfy. The 
places where the sponges are met with are slightly depressed 
valleys without trees or buslies, in a forest country where the 
grass being only a foot or fifteen inches high, and thickly 
planted, often looks like a beautiful glade in a gentleman's park 
in England. They are from a quarter of a mile to a mile broad, 
and from two to ten or more miles luno^. The water of the 
heavy rains soaks into the level forest lands: one never sees 
runnels leading it off, unless occasionally a footpath is turned 
to that use. The water, descending about eight feet, comes to 
a stratum of yellow sand, beneath Avhich there is another 
stratum of fine white sand, which at its bottom cakes, so as to 
hold the water from sinking farther. 

*' It is exactly the same as we found in the Kalahari Desert, 
in digging sucking-places for water for our oxen. The water, 

* The headquarters of the Arabs. 



396 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH, 

both here and there, is guided by the fine sand stratum into the 
nearest valley, and here it oozes forth on all sides througli the 
thick mantle of black porons earth, which forms the sponge. 
There, in the desert, it appears to damp the surface sands in 
certain valleys, and the Bushmen, by a peculiar process, suck 
out a supply. When we had dug down to the sand caked 
there years ago, the people begged us not to' dig further, as the 
water would all run away ; and we desisted, because we saw 
that the fin id poured in from the fine sand all round the well, 
but none came from the bottom or cake. Two stupid English- 
men afterwards broke through the cake in spite of the en- 
treaties of the natives, and tbe well and the whole valley dried 
up hopelessly. Here the water, oozing forth from the surface 
of the sponge mantle, collects in the centre of tlie slightly de- 
pressed^valley which it occupies, and near the head of the de- 
pression forms a sluggish stream ; but farther down, as it meets 
with more slope, it works out for itself a deeper channel, with 
perpendicular banks, wdth, say, a hundred or more yards of 
sponge on each side, constantly oozing forth fresh supplies to 
augment its size. When it reaches rocky ground it is a peren- 
nial burn, with many aquatic plants growing in its bottom. 
One peculiarity would strike anyone : the water never becomes 
discolored or muddy. I have seen only one stream muddied in 
flood, the Choma, flowing tlirongh an alluvial plain in Lopere. 
Another peculiarity is very remarkable ; it is, that after the 
rains have entirely ceased, these burns have their largest flow, 
and cause inundations. It looks as if towards the end of the 
rainy season the sponges were lifted up by the water off their 
beds, and the pores and holes, being enlarged, are all employed 
to give off fluid. The waters of inundation run away. When 
the sponges are lifted up by superabundance of water, all the 
pores therein are opened: as the earthen mantle subsides again, 
the pores act like natural valves, and are partially closed, and 
by the weight of earth above them, the water is thus prevented 
from running away altogether ; time also being required to 
wet all the sand through which the rains soak, the great supply 
may only flnd its way to the sponge a month or so after the 
great rains have fallen. 

"I travelled in Lunda, wlien the sponges were all super- 
saturated. The grassy sward was so lifted up that it was sep- 
arated into patches or tufts, and if the foot missed the row of 
tufts of this wiry grass which formed the native path, down 
one plumped up to the thigh in slush. At that time we could 
cross the sponge only by the native paths, and the central burn 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 397 

only where tliey had placed bridges : elsewhere they were im- 
passable, as they poured off the waters of inundation : onr oxen 
were generally bogged — all four legs went down up to the body 
at once. AVhen they saw the clear sandy bottom of the cen- 
tral burn they readily went in, but usually plunged right over 
head, leaving their tail up in the air to show the nervous shock 
they had sustained. 

"These sponges are a serious matter in travelling. I 
ci'ossed the twei]ty-nine already mentioned at the end of the 
fourth month of the dry season, and the central burns seemed 
then to have suffered no diminution: they were then from calf 
to waist deep, and required from fifteen to forty minutes in 
crossing ; they had many deep holes in the paths, and when 
one plumps therein every muscle in the frame receives a pain- 
ful jerk. When past the stream, and apparently on partially 
({vy ground, one may jog in a foot or more, and receive a 
squirt of black mud up the thighs : it is only when you reach 
the trees and are off the sour land that you feel secure from 
mud and leeches. As one has to strip the lower part of the 
person in order to ford them, I found tlmt often four were as 
many as we could cross in a day. Looking up these sponges a 
bird's-eye view would closely resemble the lichen-like vegeta- 
tion of frost on window panes; or that vegetation in Canada- 
balsam which mad philosophical instrument-makers will put 
between the lenses of the object-glasses of our telescopes. The 
flat, or nearly flat, tops of the subtending and tran'sverse ridges 
of this central country gives rise to a great many : I crossed 
twenty-nine, a few of the feeders of Bangweolo, in thirty miles 
of latitude in one direction. Burns are literally innumerable : 
rising on the ridges, or as I formerly termed them mounds, 
they are undoubtedly the primary or ultimate sources of the 
Zambezi, Congo, and Nile: by their union are formed streams 
of from thirty to eighty or 100 yards broad, and always deep 
enough to require either canoes or bridges. These I propose 
to call the secondary sources, and as in the case of the Nile 
they are drawn off by three lines of drainage, they become the 
head waters (the caput Nili) of the river of Egypt." 

As the reference to his theory that the Nile sources arc to 
l)e looked for in the "sponges" of the region now being trav- 
ersed, is so slight in the above paragraph, it will be well, per- 
haps, to transfer to this place some further observations of his 
on the same topic, though in point of time they belong to a 
much later period of his journals — to the period, namely, \»hen 
he was lying sick in the Manyuema country. " The watershed 



398 LirmOSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

is between 700 and 800 miles long from west to east, or say 
from 22° or 23° to 34° or 35° east longitude. Parts of it are 
enormous sponges; in other parts innumerable rills unite into 
rivulets, which again form rivers — Lufira, for instance, has nine 
rivulets, and Lekulwe other nine. The convex surface of the 
rose of a garden watering-can is a tolerably apt similitude, as 
the rills do not spring off the face of it, and it is 700 miles 
across the circle ; but in the numbers of rills coming out at 
different heights on the slope, there is a faint resemblance, and 
I can at present think of no other example. 

" I am a little thankful to old Nile for so hiding his head 
that all ' theoretical discoverers ' are left out in the cold. 
With all real explorers I have a hearty sympathy, and I have 
some regret at being obliged, in a manner compelled, to speak 
somewhat disparagingly of the opinions formed by my prede- 
cessors. The work of Speke and Grant is part of the history 
of this region, and since the discovery of the sources of the 
Nile was asserted so positively, it seems necessary to explain, 
not offensively, I hope, wherein their mistake lay, in making a 
somewhat similar claim. My opinions may 3^et be shown to 
be mistaken too, but at present I cannot conceive how. When 
Speke discovered Victoria Nyanza in 1858, he at once con- 
cluded that therein lay the sources of the Nile. His work after 
that was simply following a foregone conclusion, and as soon as 
he and Grant looked towards the Victoria Nyanza, they turned 
their backs on the Nile fountains ; so every step of their splen- 
did achievement of following the river down took them farther 
and farther away from the caput Nili. When it was perceived 
that the little river that leaves the Nyanza, though they called 
it the White Nile, would not account for that great river, they 
might have gone west and found headwaters (as the Lualaba) 
to which it can bear no comparison. Taking their White Nile 
at 80 or 90 yards, or say 100 yards broad, the Lualaba, far 
south of the latitude of its point of departure, shows an average 
breadth of from 4,000 to 6,000 yards, and always deep." 

At last a cruel outrage inflicted by one of the Arabs on the 
natives of Kizinga so exasperated the latter, that they declared 
war, and, though badly defeated, soon compelled the slave- 
traders to evacuate the country. With a party of these, led by 
Mohamad Bagharib, Livingstone started for Ujiji on December 
11th. The march to the nearest point on Lake Tanganyika 
occupied two months, but was entirely uneventful, except that 
just before reaching the lake, Livingstone had a severe attack 
of pneumonia, accompanied by spitting of blood, and distress- 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST J0VRNE7S AND DEATH. 399 

ing weakness. He had to be carried for sixteen days, during 
part of wliicli time he was insensible, and lost count of the 
days of tlie week and month. 

On the 14th of March, 1869, he reached Ujiji. It was liis 
first visit, but he had arranged that supplies should be for- 
warded thither by caravans bound inland from Zanzibar, and 
he expected to find there everything of which he stood in need. 
Most unfortunately, however, his goods had been entrusted to 
an Arab scoundrel named Musa, who had made way with them 
in all directions. Medicines, wine, and cheese had been left 
at Unyanyembe, the road to which was blocked up by a Mazitu 
or "Watuta war, and even of the barter-goods, cloth, beads, etc., 
nearly all had been stolen. The disappointment to a man 
shattered in health must have been very keen ; but great bene- 
fit was derived from the tea and coffee, and still more from 
flannel next the skin, and rest. It is characteristic of Living- 
stone that as soon as he was able to get about easily he became 
anxious to resume his explorations at once. The Manyuema 
country, a region lying northwest of Lake Tanganyika had just 
been discovered, and as reports of the vast quantities of ivory 
to be procured there was directing to it the attention of the 
Arab traders, he resolved to join the first party and explore the 
unknown region. lie was the more anxious to do this because 
he learned that the western border of the Manyuema 
country touched the Lualaba, a great river flowing north, of 
which he had already heard at Casenibe's, and the connection 
of which with the Luapula and Chambeze he had already made 
out. While waiting for the expedition to organize and the in- 
tervening country to become passable, he devoted his time to 
studvino^ Lake Tano^anvika, and discovered a steadv currentfrom 
south to north, which convinced him that it must have some 
outlet. So certain was he of this, that he almost wishes to call 
Tanganyika a river^ and the discovery that the Eusisi flows 
into and not out of the lake did not shake his conviction in the 
slightest. He thought it possible, indeed, that the outlet is to 
the west, instead of to the^ north and was led by certain facts 
learned during his journey to Manyuema to conjecture that 
it is at first underground.*'^ 

* News was received just before groing to press, that Lieutenant Cameron 
has discovered the outlet. It is called the Lukuga River and was actually 
crossed by Livingstone during his march to Manyuema, though as he crossed 
it at night, and as the current is very sluggish (about three miles an hour), 
he may be excused for not seeing that it flowed away from the lake. 
It leaves the lake at a point about five miles south of the islands discovered 
by Speke. Lieutenant Cameron followed its channel several miles, but 



400 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH, 

The journey to Manyuema commenced on the 12th of July 
(1869). After crossing the Lake, the line of march was 
directly northwest until Barabarre, the district of a friendly 
chief named Moenekuss, was reached, on the 21st of Septem- 
ber. Numerous rivers and minor streams were crossed on the 
way, some flowing into Tanganyika, and others westward to 
the Lualaba ; the district near the Lake is mountainous and 
covered with dense forests. The Manyuema country is de- 
scribed by Livingstone as surpassingly beautiful. " Palms 
crown the highest heigJits of the mountains, and their grace- 
fully bended fronds wave beautifully in the wind; and the 
forests, usually about five miles broad, between groups of vil- 
lages, are indescribable. Climbers of cable size in great num- 
bers are hung among the gigantic trees, many unknown wild 
fruits abound, some the size of a child's head, and strange 
birds and monkeys are everywhere. The soil is excessively 
rich, and the people, although isolated by old feuds that are 
never settled, cultivate largely. They have selected a kind of 
maize that bends its fruit-stalk round into a hook, and hedo-es 
some eighteen feet high are made by inserting poles, which 
sprout like Eobinson Crusoe's hedge, and never decay. Lines 
of climbing plants are tied so as to go along from pole to pole, 
and the maize-cobs are suspended to these by their own hooked 
fruit-stalk. As the corn-cob is forming, the hook is turned 
round, so that the fruit-leaves of it hang down and form a 
thatch for the grain beneath or inside it. This upright granary 
forms a solid-looking wall round the villages, and the people 
are not stingy, but take down the maize and hand it to the 
men freely." The streets of the villages often run east and 
w^est, in order that the bright blazing sun may lick up the 
moisture quickly from off them. The dwelling-houses are 
generally in line, with public meeting-houses at each end, 
opposite the middle of the street ; the roofs are low, but well 
thatched with a leaf resembling the banana-leaf, from which 
the water runs quickly off. The walls are of well-beaten 
clay, and screened from the weather. Inside, the dwellings 
are clean and comfortable, and before the Arabs came bugs 
were unknown. In some cases, where the southeast rains are 
abundant, the Manyuema place the back of the houses to this 
quarter, and prolong the low roof down, so that the rain does 
not reach the walls. These clay walls stand for ages, and 
men often return to the villages they left in infancy and build 

further navigation was stopped by a dense growtli of rushes. He believes 
that it flows west into the Lualaba. 



LIVmOSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 4ol 

again the portions that many rains have washed away. Each 
housewife has from 25 to 30 eartliern pots shmg to the ceiling 
by very neat cord-swinging tassels ; and often as many neatly- 
made baskets hung up in the same fashion, and much firewood. 

The population is very large, and tlie people are fine-look- 
ing ; Livingstone thinks that a crowd of Londoners, divested 
of their clothing and set opposite a crowd of Manyuema, 
would make a sorry spectacle. The women are very naked. 
They plait the hair into the form of a basket belund ; it is first 
rolled into a very long coil, then wound around something 
till it is about 8 or 10 inches long, projecting from the back of 
the head. The Manvuema, with their ffreat numbers, their 
favored country, and their industrious habits, would seem to 
possess all the elements of a strong and progressive nation ; 
but they are among the most barbarous tribes of Central 
Africa. They are cannibals of the most degraded sort, for 
they eat the bodies of those who die of disease ; they are sus- 
picious, vindictive, and cruel ; and they are so quarrelsome 
and treacherous that inhabitants of one village or district 
seldom dare venture beyond the confines of the next. Even 
Livingstone's large charity, quickened as it was by the out- 
rages to which he saw them subjected at the hands of the 
Arabs, could find but little that was good in them except their 
physique. '* The Manyuema," he says, after a long stay among 
tlicm had made him familiar with their habits, " are the most 
bloody, callous savages I know ; one puts a scarlet feather from 
a parrot's tail on the ground, and challenges those near to stick 
it in the hair : he who does so must kill a man or woman ! 
Another custom is that none dare wear the skin of the musk 
cat, Ngawa, unless he has murdered somebody : guns alone pre- 
vent them from killing us all, and for no reason either." 

Havino- rested at Bambarre until November 1st, Livino^stone 
resolved to go west to the Lualaba, and buy a canoe for its 
exploration. Travelling was very difiicult, as it was now the 
rainy season ; and the attitude of the natives became so threat- 
ening that after penetrating to within 10 miles of the Lualaba 
he was compelled to turn back and return to Bambarre. 
Towards the end of December he set out with Mohamad's 
ivory party, hoping to reach another part of the Lualaba and 
thus carry out his original scheme. The route pursued was 
due north, and was followed for about a month ; but rheuma- 
tism and weakness, accompanied by a cholei-aic purging, drove 
him back, and on the 7th of February, 1870, he went into win- 
ter quarters at Mamohela, a town some distance north of Bam- 
2G 



402 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNETS AND DEATH, 

barre, which the Arabs had made their chief depot. In June 
a third attempt was made to reach the Lualaba, which proved 
even more disastrous than either of the preceding ones. In 
the first place most of his men deserted him, so that he was 
obliged to start with only three attendants. The country 
proved exceedingly difficult from forest and water ; trees 
fallen across the path formed a breast-high wall which had to 
be climbed over ; flooded riversj breast and neck deep, had to 
be crossed ; die mud was awful ; and nothing but villages 






eight or ten miles apart, the people of which were far from 
friendly. For the first time in his life Livingstone's feet failed 
him ; instead of healing quietly, as heretofore, when torn by 
hard travel, irritable eating-ulcers fastened on both feet, and 
he was barely able to limp back to Mamohela on the 6th of 
July. The ulcers now laid him up. If the foot were put to 
the ground a discharge of bloody ichor followed, and the same 
discharge happened -every night with considerable pain that 
prevented sleep. They eat through everything — muscle, ten- 
don, and bone ; and medicines have very little effect upon 
them. Their periodicity would seem to indicate that they are 
-allied to fever. For eighty days Livingstone never came out 
•of his hut ; and even then the ulcers had only begun to heal. 

Ilis journal shows that during the period of his confinement 
Livino-stone was c^atherimo; information from both natives and 
Arabs as to the great lake and river system which he had dis- 
covered ; speculating with apparent seriousness upon the 
possibility of Moses having pene.trated to this region and 
founded the lost city of Me roe ; and observing the habits of 
the people. He learned that another large lake, called Clii- 
'bungo, lay about twelve days distant west from the Lualaba ; 
and that a large river, which he called Lualaba West, flows 
•out of it in a northeasterly direction and empties into the 
.main stream between 2° and 3° S. lat. To the central Lualaba, 
■or main stream, he gave the name of " Webb's River ; " to the 
western, " Young's E-iver ; " and to Chibnngo, " Lake Lin- 
«coln." The fountain of the Liambai, or Upper Zambesi, he 
proposes to call " Palmerston Fountain," and the fountain of 
the Lufira he called after Sir Bartle Frere. In a despatch to 
.the British Foreign Office, written a few weeks before his 
'death, he explains fully the reasons which influenced him in 
giving these names to the principal rivers and lakes which he 
had discovered : " I have tried," he says, " to honor the name 
•of the good Lord Palmerston, in fond remembrance of his 
long and unwearied labor for the abolition of the Slave Trade ; 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 403 

and I venture to place the name of the good and noble 
Lincoln on the Lake, in gratitude to him who gave freedom to 
4,000*,000 of slaves. These two great men are no longer 
among us ; but it pleases me, here in the wilds, to place, as it 
were, my poor little garland of love on their tombs. Sir Bar- 
tie Frere having accomplished the grand work of abolishing 
slavery in Scindiah, Upper India, deserves the gratitude of 
every lover of Imman kind. 

"Private friendship guided me in the selection of other 
names where distinctive epithets were urgently needed. 
' Paraffin ' Young, one of my teachers in chemistry, raised 
himself to be a merchant prince by his science and art, and 
has shed pure white liglit in many lowly cottages, and in some 
rich palaces. Leaving him and chemistry, I went away to try 
and bless others. I, too, have shed light of another kind, and 
am fain to believe that 1 have performed a small part in the 
grand revolution which our Maker has been for ages carrying 
on, by nniltitudes of conscious, and many unconscious, agents, 
all over tlie world. Young's friendship never faltered. 

" Oswell and "Webb were fellow-travellers, and mighty 
hunters. Too much engrossed myself with mission-work to 
hunt, except for the children's larder, when going to visit 
distant tribes, I relished the sight of fair stand-up fights by 
my friends with the large denizens of the forest, and admired 
the true Nimrod class for their great courage, truthfulness, and 
honor." 

Under date of August 24th he gives an interesting account 
of the soko, which he believed to be identical with the gorilla, 
but which Mr. Waller is probably right in regarding as an 
entirely new species of chimpanzee. 

" Four gorillas or sokes were killed yesterday : an extensive 
grass-burning forced them out of their usual liaunt,and coming 
on the plain they were speared. They often go erect, but 
place the hand on the head as if to steady the body. When 
seen thus, the soko is an ungainly beast. The most sentimen- 
tal young lady would not call him a ^ dear,' but a bandy- 
legged, pot-bellied, low-looking villain, without a particle of 
the gentleman in him. Other animals, especially the antel- 
opes, are graceful, and it is pleasant to see them either at rest 
or in motion : the natives are also well made, lithe and comely 
to behold ; but the soko, if large, would do well to stand for a 
picture .of the Devil. lie takes away my appetite by the dis- 
gusting bestiality of appearance. His light-yellow face shows 
off his ugly whiskers, and faint apology for a beard ; the fore- 



404 LiriNGSTOME'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

head villainously low, with high ears, is well in the back- 
ground of the great dog-mouth ; the teeth are slightly human, 
but the canines show the beast by their large development. 
The hands, or rather the fingers, are like those of the natives. 
The flesh of the feet is yellow, and the eagerness with which 
the Manyuema devour it leaves the impression that eating sokos 
was the first stage by which they arrived at being cannibals ; 
they say that the flesh is delicious. The soko is represented 
by some to be extremely knowing, successfully stalking men 
and women while at their work, kidnapping children and run- 
ning up trees with them — he seems, to be amused by the sight 
of the young native in his arms, but comes down when tempted 
by a bunch of bananas, and as he lifts that, drops the child : 
the young soko in such a case would cling closely to the arm- 
pit of the elder. One man was cutting out honey from a tree, 
and naked, when a soko suddenly appeared and caught him, 
then let him go : another man was hunting, and missed in his 
attempt to stab a soko ; it seized the spear and broke it ; then 
grappled with the man, who called to his companions, ' Soko 
has caught me ; ' the soko bit off the ends of his fingers 
and escaped unharmed. Both men are now alive at Bam- 
barre. 

" The soko is so cunning and has such sharp eyes that no one 
can stalk him in front without being seen, hence, when shot, 
it is always in the back ; when surrounded by men and nets, 
he is generally speared in the back too ; otherwise he is not a 
very formidable beast ; he is nothing as compared in power of 
damaging his assailant, to a leopard or lion, but is more like a 
manlmarmed, fpr it does not occur to him to use his canine teeth, 
which are long and formidable. Numbers of them come down 
in the forest within a hundred yards of our camp, and would 
be unknown but for giving tongue like fox-hounds ; this is 
their nearest approach to speech. A man hoeing was stalked 
by a soko, and seized ; he roared out, but the soko giggled and 
grinned, and left him as if he had done it in play. A child 
caught up by a soko is often abused by being pinched and 
scratched, and let fall. 

" The soko kills the leopard occasionally, by seizing both 
paws and biting them so as to disable them ; he then goes up 
a tree, groans over his wounds, and some time recovers, while 
the leopard dies : at other times, both soko and leopard die. 
The lion kills him at once, and sometimes tears his limbs off, 
but does not eat him. The soko eats no flesh — small bananas are 
his dainties, but not maize. His food consists of wild fruits 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 405 

which abound : one, Stafene, or Manyueraa Marawa, is like 
large sweet sop but indifferent in taste and flesh. The soko 
brings forth at times twins. A very large soko was seen by 
Mohamad's hmiters sitting picking his nails; they tried to stalk 
him, but he vanished. Some Manyuema think that their buried 
dead rise as sokos, and one was killed with holes in his ears, as 
if he had been a man. lie is very strong and fears guns but 
not spears : he never catches women. 

'' Sokos collect together and make a drumming noise, some 
say with hollow trees, then burst forth into loud yells which 
are well imitated by the natives' euibryotic music. If a man 
lias no spear the soko goes away satisfied, but if wounded he 
seizes the wrist, lops off the fingers, and spits them out, slaps 
the cheek of his victim, and bites without breaking the skin : 
he draws out a spear (but never uses it), and takes some leaves 
and stuffs them into his wound to staunch the blood ; he does not 
wish an encounter with an armed man. He sees women do 
him no harm, and never molests them ; a man without a spear 
is nearly safe from him. They beat hollow trees as drums 
with hands, and then scream as music to it ; when men hear 
them, thej go to the sokos ; but sokos never go to men with 
hostility. Manyuema say, ' Soko is a man, and nothing bad in 
him.' 

'' They live in communities of about ten, each having his 
own female ; an intruder from anotlier camp is beaten off with 
their fists and loud yells. If one tries to seize the female of 
another, he is caught on the ground, and all unite in boxing 
and biting the offender. A male often carries a child, espe- 
cially if they are passing from one patch of forest to another 
over a grassy space ; he then gives it to the mother." 

Later on, one of the Arabs caught a young female soko 
whose mother had been killed, and gave it to Livingstone, who 
gives the following amusing account of it: — " She sits eighteen 
inches high, has fine long black hair all over, which was pretty 
so long as it w^as kept in order by her dam. She is the least 
mischievous of all the monkey tribe I have seen, and seems to 
know that in me she has a friend, and sits quietly on the mat 
beside me. In walking, the first thing observed is that she 
does not tread on the palms of her hands, but on the backs of 
the second line of bones of the hands : in doing this the nails 
do not touch the ground, nor do the knuckles ; she uses the 
arms thus supported crutch fashion, and hitches herself along 
between them ; occasionally one hand is put down before the 
other, and alternates with the feet, or slie walks upright and 



406 LIVINGSTON'E'S LAST JOUBIS'EYS AND DEATH. 

holds up a hand to any one to carry her. If refused, she turns 
her face down, and makes grimaces of the most bitter human 
weeping, wringing her hands, and sometimes adding a fourth 
hand or foot to make the appeal more touching. Grass or 
leaves she draws around her to make a nest, and resents anyone 
meddling with her property. She is a most friendly little 
beast, and came up to me at once, making her chirrup of wel- 
come, smelled my clothing, and held out her hand to be shaken. 
She eats everything, covers herself with a mat to sleep, and 
makes a nest of grass or leaves, and wipes her face with a leaf." 
He fails to mention what became of this curious pet. 

Another entry, under date of 25th October, shortly after he 
was able to leave his hut, is interesting as indicating the 
high motives which actuated Livingstone in his toilsome explo- 
ration, and the objects he hoped to accomplisli by striking west- 
ward from Manyuema. " In this journey I have endeavored 
to follow with unswerving fidelity the line of duty. My course 
has been an even one, turning neither to the right hand nor to 
the left, though my route has been tortuous enough. All the 
hardship, hunger, and toil were met with the full conviction 
that I was right in persevering to make a complete work of the 
exploration of the sources of the Kile. Mine has been a calm, 
hopeful endeavor to do the work that has been given me to do, 
whether I succeed or whether I fail. The prospect of death in 
pursuing what I knew to be right did not make me veer to one 
side or the other. I had a strong presentiment during the first 
three years that I should never live through the enterprise, but 
it weakened as I came near to the end of the journey, and an 
eager desire to discover any evidence of the great Moses hav- 
ing visited these parts bound me, spell- bound me, I may say, 
for if I could bring to light anything to confirm the Sacred 
Oracles, I should not grudge one whit all the labor expended. 
I have to go down the Central Lualaba or Webb's Lake River, 
then up the Western or Young's Lake River to Katanga head 
waters and then retire. I pray that it may be to my native 
home." Could this plan have been carried out, he would have 
solved the problem as to whether the Lualaba flows north to 
the Nile, or whether (as he now and then suspected on account 
of its great westing), he was on the head waters of the 
Congo. But his own physical weakness, and his want of men 
and stores, made it impossible to undertake it at once ; and as 
he waited month after month in the hope of obtaining the lat- 
ter, the growing hostilities between the natives and the Arabs 
finally convinced him of its hopelessness. The arrival of ten 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 407 

men from Ujiji with stores early in 1871, enabled liim to pen- 
etrate to the Lualaba ; but lie was nnable, after the most 
strenuous efforts, to procure a boat to descend the river, and his 
men utterly i-efused to cross over into the country beyond. 

While staying on the banks of the Lualaba, which he found 
to be a mighty river, at least 3,000 yards broad and always 
deep, he witnessed a scene so shocking that he could stand the 
companionship of the Arabs no longer, and resolved to return 
at once to Ujiji. Almost from the day the Arab hordes en- 
tered the country petty outrages on either side had kept up a 
chronic state of hostility between them and the natives ; and as 
their stay was protracted these outrages became gradually more 
numerous and more murderous. At the time when the scene 
referred to occurred, Livingstone was sta3dng at the head- 
quarters of Dugumbe, who had a large ivory-hunting party with 
him. His people seemed to be on friendly enough terms with 
the natives ; but on the 14th of July the Arabs in camp be- 
came very much incensed on learning that Kimburu and sev- 
eral other local chiefs had mixed the blood of friendship with 
a slave named Manilla. The result shall be given in Living- 
stone's own words : 

" Ihth Julij^ 187L — The reports of guns on the other side of 
the Lualaba all the morning tell of me people of Dugumbe 
murdering those of Kimburu and others who mixed blood w^ith 
Manilla. 'Manilla is a slave, and how dares he to mix blood 
with chiefs who ought only to make friends with free men like 
us?' — This is their complaint. Kimburu gave Manilla three 
slaves, and he sacked ten villages in token of friendship ; he 
proposed to give Dugumbe nine slaves in the same operation, 
but Dugumbe's people destroy his villages, and shoot and make 
his people captives to punish Manilla ; to make an impression, 
in fact, in the country that they alone are to be dealt with — 
' make friends with us, and not with Manilla or anyone else ' — 
such is what they insist upon. 

" About 1500 people came to market,* though many villages 
of those that usually come from the other side were now in 
flames, and ever}' now and then a number of shots were fired 
on the fugitives. 

" It was a hot, sultry day, and when I went into the market 

* Market or ' ' Chitoka " is one of the peculiar features of Manyuema life. 
It is held at a fixed place every other day, and is attended chiefly by women 
who come in immense numbers from aU the surrounding- districts, and who do 
all the bartering and trading. It was chiefly by these markets that the Arabs 
were supplied \vith food. 



408 LIVII^GSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 

I saw Adie and Manilla, and three of the men who had lately 
come with Dugumbe. I was surprised to see these three with 
their guns, and felt inclined to reprove them, as one of my men 
did, for bringing weapons into the market, but I attributed it 
to their ignorance, and, it being very hot, I was walking away 
to go out of the market, when I saw one of the fellows hag- 
gling about a fowl, and seizing hold of it. Before 1 had got 
thirty yards out, the discharge of two guns in the middle of 
the crowd told me that slaughter had begun: crowds dashed 
off from the place, and threw down their wares in confusion, 
and ran. At the same time that the three opened fire on the 
mass of people near the upper end of the market-place volleys 
were discharged from a party down near the creek on the 
panic-stricken women, who dashed at the canoes. These, some 
fifty or more, were jammed in the creek, and the men forgot^ 
their paddles in the terror that seized all. The canoes were 
not to be got out, for the creek was too small for so many ; 
men and women, wounded by the balls, poured into them, and 
leaped and scrambled into the water, shrieking. A long line 
of heads. in the river showed that great numbers struck out for 
an island a full mile off : in going towards it they had to put 
the left shoulder to a current of about two miles an hour ; if 
they had struck away diagonally to the opposite bank, the cur- 
I'ent would have aided them, and, though nearly three miles 
off, some would have gained land ; as it was, the heads above 
water showed the long line of those that would inevitably 
perisli. 

" Shot after shot continued to be fired on the helpless and 
perishing. Some of the long line of heads disappeared 
quietly ; whilst other poor creatures threw their arms higli, as 
if appealing to the great Father above, and sank. One canoe 
took in as many as it could hold, and all paddled with hands 
and arms : three canoes, got out in haste, picked up sinking 
fji'iends, till all went down together, and disappeared. One 
man in a long canoe, which could have held forty or fifty, had 
clearly lost his head ; he had been out in the stream before the 
massacre began, and now paddled up the river nowhere, and 
never looked to the drowning. By-and-by all the heads disap- 
peared ; some had turned down stream towards the bank, and 
escaped. Dugumbe put people into one of the deserted vessels 
to save those in the water, and saved twenty-one, but one 
woman refused to be taken on board from thinking that she 
was to be made a slave of; she preferred the chance of life by 
swimming, to the lot of a slave : the Bagenya women are ex- 



LIVINOSTON'E'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 409 

pert in the water, as they are accustomed to dive for oysters, 
and those who went down stream may have escaped, but the 
Arabs themselves estimated the loss of life at between 330 and 
400 souls. The shooting-party near the canoes were so reckless, 
they killed two of their own people ; and a Banyamwezi fol- 
lower, who got into a deserted canoe to plunder, fell into the 
water, went down, then came up again, and down to rise no 
more. 

"My first impulse was to pistol the murderers, but Dugumbe 
protested against my getting into a blood-feud, and I was 
thankful afterwards that I took his advice. Two wretched 
Moslems asserted ' that the firing was done by the people of 
the English ; ' I asked one of them why he lied so, and he 
could utter no excuse : no other falsehood came to his aid as he 
stood abashed before me, and so telling him not to tell palpable 
falsehoods, I left him gaping. 

''' After the terrible affair in the water, the party of Taga- 
moio, who was the chief perpetrator, continued to fire on the 
people there, and fire their villages. As I write I hear the 
loud wails on the left bank over those who are there slain, 
ignorant of their many friends now in the depths of Lualaba. 
Oh, let Thy Kingdom come! ^o one will ever know the 
exact loss on this bright sultry summer morning ; it gave me 
the impression of being in Hell. All the slaves in the camp 
rushed at the fugitives on land, and plundered them : women 
were for hours collecting and carrying loads of what had been 
thrown down in terror. 

" Some escaped to me, and were protected ; Dugumbe saved 
twenty-one, and of his own accord liberated them ; they were 
brought to me, and remained over night near my house. One 
woman of the saved had a musket-ball through the thigh, an- 
other in the arm. I sent men with our flag to save some, for 
without a flag they might have been victims, for Tagamoio's 
people were shooting right and left like flends. I counted 
twelve villages burning this morning. I asked the question of 
Dugumbe and others, ' Now, for what is all this murder ? ' 
All blamed Manilla as its cause, and in one sense he was the 
cause ; but it is hardly credible that they repeat it is in order 
to be avenged on Manilla for making friends with headmen, he 
being a slave. I cannot believe it fully. The wish to make 
an impression in the country as to the importance and great- 
ness of the new comers was the most potent motive ; but it 
was terrible that the murdering of so many should be contem- 
plated at all. It made me sick at heart. Who could accom- 



4:10 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOUBNEYS AND DEATH. 

pany the people of Dugiimbe and Tagamoio to Lomame and 
be free from blood-guiltiness? 

" I proposed to Dugumbe to catcli the murderers, and hang 
them up in the market-place, as our protest against the bloody 
deeds before the Manyuema. If, as he and others added, the 
massacre was committed by Manilla's people, he would have 
consented ; but it was done by Tagamoio's people, and others 
df this party, headed by Dugumbe. This slaughter was pecu- 
liarly atrocious, inasmuch as we have always heard that women 
coming to or from market have never been known to be mo- 
lested : even when two districts are engaged in actual hostili- 
ties, ' the women,' say they, ' pass among us to market 
unmolested,' nor has one ever been known to be plundered by 
the men. These ISTigger Moslems are inferior to the Manyuema 
in justice and right. The people under Hassani began the 
superwickedness of capture and pillage of all indiscriminately. 
Dugumbe promised to send over men to order Tagamoio's 
men to cease firing and burning villages ; they remained over 
among the ruins, feasting on goats and fowls all night, and 
next day (16th) continued their infamous work till twenty- 
seven villages were destroyed." 

" ISth July. — The murderous assault on the market people, 
felt to me like Gehenna, without the fire and brimstone ; but 
the heat was oppressive, and the firearms pouring their iron 
bullets in the fugitives, was not an inapt representation of 
burning in the bottomless pit. The terrible scenes of man's in- 
humanity to man brought on a severe headache, which might 
have been serious had it not been relieved by a copious dis- 
charge of blood ; I was laid up all yesterday afternoon with 
the depression the bloodshed made, — it filled me with unspeak- 
able horror." 

Tie began preparations at once for the return journey, and 
on the 22d, turned his back on the mysterious Lualaba and set 
out for Ujiji. Much hostility was manifested by the natives on 
the way, and at one point Livingstone had an exceedingly nar- 
row escape in an ambush, which had been laid for him under 
the impression that he was Mohamad Bogharib. The march 
too, though less severe than some others which he had made, 
told severely on his weakened constitution. " In the latter part 
of it," he says, " I felt as if dying on my feet. Almost every 
step was in pain, the appetite failed, and a little bit of meat 
caused violent diarrhoea, whilst the mind, sorely depressed, re- 
acted on the body. All the traders were returning successful : 
I alone had failed and experienced worry, thwarting, baffling, 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOUENETS AND DEATH. 411 

when almost in sight of the end towards which I strained." 
Ujiji was reached on October 23d. lie was now reduced to a 
skeleton, but the market being held daily, and all kinds of 
native food brought to it, he hoped that food and rest would 
soon restore him. On the veiy day of his arrival, however, he 
learned that the rascally Arab in whose charge liis goods had 
been left, had sold them all ojBf; '^le did not leave a single 
yard of calico out of 3,000, nor a string of beads out of 700 
lbs. Tiiis was distressing. I had made up my mind, if I could 
not get people at Ujiji, to wait till men should come from the 
coast, but to wait in beggary was what I never contemplated^ 
and I now felt miserable." Under date of October 2Sth he 
adds : 

" But when my spirits were at their lowest ebb, the good 
Samaritan was close at hand, for one morning Susi came run 
ning at the top of his speed and gasped out, ' An Englishman ! 
1 see him ! ' and off he darted to meet him. The American 
flag at the head of a caravan told of the nationality of the 
stranger. Bales of goods, baths of tin, huge kettles, cooking 
•pots, tents, etc., made me think ' This must be a luxurious trav- 
eller, and not one at his wits' end like me.' It was Henry 
Morelancl Stanley, the travelling correspondent of the ]}^ew 
York Herald^ sent by James Gordon Bennett, junior, at an 
expense of more than 4,000^., to obtain accurate information 
about Dr. Livingstone if living, and if dead to bring home my 
bones. The news he had to tell to one who had been two full 
years without any tidings from Europe made my whole frame 
thrill. Tiie terrible fate that had befallen France, the tele- 
graphic cables successfully laid in the Atlantic, the election of 
General Grant, the death of good Lord Clarendon — my con- 
stant friend — ^the proof that Iler Majesty's Government had not 
forgotten me in voting 1,000^. for supplies, and many other 
points of interest, revived emotions that had lain dormant in 
Manyuema. Appetite returned, and instead of the spare, taste- 
less two meals a day, I ate four times daily, and in a week be- 
gan to feel strong. I am not of a demonstrative turn ; as cold, 
indeed, as we islanders are usually reputed to be, but this dis- 
interested kindness of Mr. Bennett, so nobly carried into effect 
by Mr. Stanley, was simply overwhelming. I really do feel 
extremely grateful, and at the same time I am a little ashamed 
at not being more worthy of the generosity." 

Particulars of Stanley's stay with Livingstone, of their ex- 
ploration of the northern end of Lake Tanganyika and discov- 
ery of the fact that the Rusisi flows into and not out of the 



412 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH, 

Lake, and of their march to Unyanyembe, which was reached 
on the 18th of February, 1872, have already been given in the 
preceding chapter. It was also explained in that chapter, that 
Livingstone was to remain at Unyanyembe until Stanley could 
send iiim the men and supplies he needed from Zanzibar. 
I^Tot until the 15th of August did the caravan arrive, and 
though well housed and supplied, Livingstone became very 
weary before the long period of waiting was over. The war 
with Hirambo was still dragging on, but he took only a lan- 
guid interest in it ; much of his time was spent in making elab- 
orate astronomical and meteorological calculations. One entry 
of this period is interesting, as explaining what objects he had 
in view in undertaking liis last fatal journey. " Mr. Stanley," 
he says, " used some very strong arguments in favor of my 
going home, recruiting my strength, getting artificial teeth, and 
then returning to finish my task; but now judgment said, 
' All your friends will wish you to make a complete work of 
the exploration of the sources of the Nile befoi-e you retire.' 
My daughter Agnes says, 'Much as I wish you to come home, 
J would rather that you finished your work to your own satis- 
faction than return merely to gratify me.' Rightly and 
nobly said, my darling Nannie. Vanity whispers pretty loudly, 
' She is a chip of the old block.' My blessing on her and all 
the rest. 

" It is all but certain that four full-grown gushing fountains 
rise on the watershed eight days south of Katanga, each of 
which at no great distance off becomes a large river; and two 
rivers thus formed flow north to Egypt, the other two south to 
Inner Ethiopia; that is, Lufira or Bartle Frere's Hi ver, flows 
into Kamolondo, and that into Webb's Lualaba, the main line 
of drainage. Another, on the north side of the sources. Sir 
Paraflin Young's Lualaba, flows through Lake Lincoln, otlier- 
wise named Ghibungo and Loraarae, and that too into Webb's 
Lualaba. Then Liambai Fountain, Palmerston's, forms the 
Upper Zambesi ; and the Longa (Lunga), Oswell's Fountain, is 
the Kaf ue ; both flowing into Inner Ethiopia. It may be that 
these are not the. fountains of the Nile mentioned to Herodo- 
tus by the secretary of Minerva, in Sais, in Egypt; but they 
are worth discovery, as in the last hundred of the seven hun- 
dred miles of the watershed, from which nearly all the Nile 
springs do unquestionably arise. 

"I propose to go from Unyanyembe to Fipa ; then round 
the south end of Tanganyika, Tambete, or Mbete ; then across 
the Chambeze, and round south of Lake Bangweolo, and due 



XjIVINOSTONE'S last journeys and death. 413 

west to the ancient foiintairis ; leaving the nndergronnd excava- 
tion till after visiting Katanga. This route will serve to cer* 
tify that no other sources of the Nile can come from the south 
without being seen by me. No one will cut me out after thie 
exploration is accomplished ; and may the good Lord of all 
help me to show myself one of His stout-hearted servants, an 
honor to my children, and, perhaps, to my country and race." 

In another entry several months later we find that he calcu- 
lated on his work occupying him till 187-1. *' Stanley's men 
may arrive in July next. Then engage pagazi [bearers] half a 
month= August, 5 months of this year will remain for journej', 
the whole of 1873 will be swallowed up in work, but in Febru- 
ary or March, 1874, please the Almighty Disposer of events, 
I shall complete my task and retire." 

Still another entrv, made at this time, shows that some 
Africans at least are not deficient in coolness and courai^e : 

" At the Loangwa of Zumbo we came to a party of heredi- 
tary hippopotamus hunters, called Makombwe or Akombwe. 
They follow no other occupation, but when their game is get- 
ting scanty at one spot they remove to some other part of the 
Loangwa, Zambesi, or Shire, and build temporary huts on an 
island, wliere their women cultivate patches : the flesh of the 
animals they kill is eagerly exchanged by the more settled peo- 
ple for grain. They are not stingy, and are everywliere 
welcome guests. I never heard of any fraud in dealing, or 
that they had been guilty of an outrage on the poorest : tlieir 
chief characteristic is their couras^e. Their huntings: is the 
bravest thing I ever saw. Each canoe is manned by two men ; 
they are long light craft, scarcely half an inch in thickness, 
about eighteen inches beam, and from eighteen to twenty feet 
long. They are formed for speed, and shaped somewhat like 
our racing boats. Each man uses a broad short paddle, and as 
they guide the canoe slowly down stream to a sleeping hippo- 
potamus not a single ripple is raised on the sm<x)th water ; 
they look as if holding in their breath, and communicate by 
signs only. As they come near the prey the harpooner in tlie 
bow lays down his paddle and rises slowly up, and there he 
stands erect, motionless, and eager, with the long-handled 
weapon poised at arm's length above his head, till coming 
close to the beast he plunges it with all his might in towards 
the heart. During this exciting feat he has to keep his bal- 
ance exactly. His neighbor in the stern at once backs his 
paddle, the harpooner sits down, seizes his paddle, and backs 
too to escape : the animal, surprised and wounded, seldom re- 



414 LIVINGSTONE? 8 LAST JOURNEYS AND BEATE. 

turns the attack at this stage of the hunt. The next stage, 
however, is full of danger. 

" The barbed blade of the harpoon is secured by a long and 
very strong rope wound round the handle : it is intended to 
come out of its socket, and while the iron head is firmly fixed 
in tlie animal's body the rope unwinds and the handle floats on 
the surface. The hunter next goes to the handle and hauls on 
the rope till he knows that he is right over the beast : when he 
feels the line suddenly slacken he is prepared to deliver another 
harpoon the instant that hippo.'s enormous jaws appear with a 
terrible grunt above the water. The backing by the paddles is 
again repeated, but hippo, often assaults the canoe, crunches it 
with his jaws as easily as a pig would a bunch of asparagus, or 
shivers it with a kick by his hind foot. Deprived ot their 
canoe the gallant comrades instantly dive and swim to the 
shore under water : they say that the infuriated beast looks for 
them on the surface, and being below they escape his sight. 
When caught by many harpoons the crews of several canoes 
seize the handles and drag him hither and thither till, weak- 
ened by loss of blood, he succumbs. 

"This hunting requires the greatest skill, courage, and nerve 
that can be conceived — double armed and threefold brass, or 
whatever tlie ^neid says. The Makombwe are certainly a 
magnificent race of men, hardy and active in their habits, and 
well fed, as the result of their brave exploits ; every muscle is 
well developed, and though not so tall as some tribes, their 
figures are compact and finely proportioned : being a family 
occupation it has no doubt helped in the production of fine 
physical deyelopraent. Though all the people among whom 
they sojourn would like the profits they secure by the flesh and 
curved tusks, and no game is preserved, I have met with no 
competitors to them except the Wayeiye of Lake iN^gami and 
adjacent rivers. 

"I have seen our dragoon ofiicers perform fencing and 
managing their horses so dexterously that ever}^ muscle seemed 
strained to its fullest power and efiiciency, and perliaps had they 
been brought up as Makombwe, they might have equalled their 
daring and consummate skill : but we have no sport, except 
perhaps Indian tiger shooting, requiring the courage and cool- 
ness this enterprise demands. The danger may be appreciated 
if one remembers that no sooner is blood shed in the water, 
than all the crocodiles below are immediately drawn up stream 
by the scent, and are ready to act the part of thieves in a Lon- 
don crowd, or worse." 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOUBNETS AND DEATH 415 

As has already been stated, the men from Zanzibar, 57 in 
number, arrived on the 15tli of August, and on the 25th Liv- 
ingstone set out with them and his faithful followers, Susi, 
Chuma, and three others who had been with him from the 
beginning, for Lake Bangweolo. The journey thither was 
almost without incident of interest. After reaching Lake 
Tanganyika, the party marched down its eastern shore over a 
mountainous, rugged, and exceedingly difficult country, which 
cost them all their animals save one donkey ; rounded the 
southern shore of the lake ; marched southwest to the town of 
Casembe, who was dead; and then southeast to the eastern 
end of Lake Bangweolo. Yery great hardships were encoun- 
tered. The depredations of the Arabs had left the entire 
country in confusion, and the natives were much more hostile 
and intractable than during the previous journeys ; owing to 
the impossibility of obtaining guides, they were constantly 
getting lost; and, as the culminating point of their difficulties, 
they found as they approached Lake Bangweolo that the en- 
tire country was flooded, while every day they were drenched with 
rain. Almost at the beginning of the journey it becomes evi- 
dent that Livingstone's health was failing. He complains 
frequently of weakness, and his old enemy, dysentery, fastened 
upon him and entered the chronic stage. On nearing the lake 
and entering the flooded country, the ill effects of which were 
greatly increased by the daily downpour of rain, he became 
gradually worse, and we come across many entries like the 
following : — " 27th January. — On again through streams, over 
sponges and rivulets thigh deep. I lost much blood, but it is 
a safety-valve for me, and I have no fever or other ailments." 
"22<^ February. — . . . I was ill all yesterday, but escaped 
fever by hemoiThage." 

The Chambeze was crossed in canoes on the 26tli of Marcli, 
1873, and the party began to skirt the southern shore of the 
Lake. For a few days Livingstone seems to have felt better 
and to have looked forward hopefully to accomplishing his 
great task ; but on the 10th of April he suffered a severe 
attack, and from this time failed rapidly. At first he got for- 
ward on the donkey, but as his weakness increased he could 
not endure even tliis, and his men had to construct a rude 
palanquin, slung to a pole, on which he could be carried. It 
is evident from his diary that he was unable to do more than 
make the shortest memoranda, and to mark on the map which 
he was making the streams that enter the Lake as he crossed 
them. From the 22d to the 26th of Api'il he had not strength 



416 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOUBNEYS AND DEATH. 

to write down more than the several dates. No entry at all 
was made in the diary after the following : " 27th. Knocked 
up quite, and remain — rec-over — sent to buy milch goats. We 
are on the banks of the Molilamo." These are the last words 
that Livingstone ever wrote. 

From this point we have to trust entirely to the narrative of 
Chuma and Susi. The}^ explain that during these few days 
they were marching westward by short stages, but the motion 
of the palanquin became so painful to Livingstone that on the 
29th they were glad to enter the village of a chief called 
Chitambo, and prepare a hut. They made a bed for their 
dying leader, raised from the floor by sticks and grass, and 
placed his medicine-chest on a box near him. A fire was 
lighted outside, nearly opposite the door, whilst the boy Maj- 
wara slept just within to attend to his master's wants. 

" On the 30th of April, 1873, Chitambo came early to pay a 
visit of courtesy, and was shown into the Doctor's presence ; 
but he was obliged to send him away, telling him to come 
again on the morrow, when he lioped to have -more strength to 
talk to him, and he was not again distui'bed. Li the afternoon 
he asked Susi to bring his watch to the bedside, and explained 
to him the position in which to hold his hand, that it might lie 
in the palm whilst he slowly turned the key. 

" So the hours stole on till nightfall. The men silently took 
to their huts, whilst others, whose duty it was to keep watch, 
sat round the fires, all feeling that the end could not be far off. 
About 11 p. M. Susi, whose hut was close by, was told to go to 
his master. At the time there were loud shouts in the dis- 
tance, and, on entering, Dr. Livingstone said, ' Are our men 
making that noise ? ' ' Ko,' replied Susi ; ' I can liear from 
the cries that the^people are scaring away a buffalo from their 
dura fields.' A few minutes afterwards he said slowly, and 
evidently wandering, ' Is this the Luapula ? ' Susi told him 
they were in Ghitambo's village, near the Molilamo, when he 
was silent for a while. Again, speaking to Susi, in Suaheli 
this time, he said, ' Sikim'gapi kuenda Luapula ? ' (How many 
days is it to the Luapula ?) 

" ' Na zani zikutatu, Bwana ' (I think it is three days, mas- 
ter), replied Susi. 

" A few seconds after, as if in great pain, he half sighed, 
half said, ' Oh dear, dear I ' and then dozed oif again. 

" It was about an hour later that Susi heard Majwara again 
outside the door, ' Bwana wants you, Susi.' On reaching the 
bed the Doctor told him he wished him to boil some water, 



LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEYS AND DEATH. 417 

and for tliis purpose he went to the fire outside, and soon 
returned with the copper kettle fuU. Calling him close, he 
asked him to bring his medicine-chest and to hold the candle 
near him, for the man noticed he could hardly see. With 
great difiiculty Dr. Livingstone selected the calomel, which he 
told him to place by his side; then, directing him to pour a 
little water into a cup, and to put another empty one by it, he 
said in a low, feeble voice, ' All right ; you can go out now.' 
These were the last words he was ever heard to speak. 

" It must have been about 4 a. m. when Susi heard Majwara's 
step once more. ' Come to Bwana ; I am afraid ; I don't know 
if he is alive.' The lad's evident alarm made Susi run to 
arouse Chuma, Chowpere, Matthew, and Muanyasere, and the 
six men went immediately to the hut. 

" Passing inside, they looked towards the bed. Dr. Living- 
stone was not lying on it, but appeared to be engaged in 
prayer, and they instinctively drew backwards for the instant. 
JPointing to him, Majwara said: ^When I lay down he was 
just as he is now, and it is because I find that he does not 
move that I fear he is dead.' They asked the lad how long 
he had slept? Majwara said he could not tell, but he was 
sure that it was some considerable time: the men drew nearer. 

"A candle, stuck by its own wax to the top of the box, 
shed a light suflicient for them to see his form. Dr. Living- 
stone was kneeling by the side of his bed, his body stretched 
forward, his head burjed in his hands upon the pillow. For a 
minute they watched him : he did not stir; there was no sign 
of breathing ; then one of them, Matthew, advanced softly to 
him and placed his hands to his cheeks. It was sufficient ; 
life had been extinct some time, and the body was almost cold : 
Livingstone was dead. 

" His sad-hearted servants raised him tenderly up and laid 
him full length on the bed ; then, carefully covering him, they 
went out into the damp night air to consult together. It was 
not long before the cocks crew, and it is from this circumstance 
— coupled with the fact that Susi spoke to him some time 
shortly before midnight — that we are able to state with tolera- 
ble certainty that he expired early on the 1st of May." 

Thus closed the earthly career of one of the greatest ex- 
plorers ever known ; a man of truly heroic mould, whose char- 
acter was as lovable as his achievements were splendid. Ho 
died, as he must many times have expected to die, with his 
weary feet still treading the unmapped forest-paths and river- 
banks of the African wilderness. But he had faced the like- 
27 



418 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOUBNETS AND DEATH. 

liliood of a " death in harness " far too often not to have been 
prepared for it; and much as he would have valued the pres- 
ence with him at the last hour of those wlio were dear to him, 
eagerly as ho hoped to solve the great problem of the Nile 
sources, yet his journal shows that he faced whatever fate was 
in store for him with calm resignation to the will of Heaven. 
The geographical work which this one indomitable, resolute, 
and courageous man accomplished can only be appreciated by 
those who know the map of Africa as he found it in 1840, and 
that same map as it will be after the discoveries of these last 
journeys are assigned their place upon it. When he was a 
young man as little was known of Central Africa as is now 
known of tlie regions round the North Pole. It was the pop- 
ular theory, as he tells us himself, that it was an uninliabited 
wilderness ; but when, after crossing the Great Kalahari 
Desert, which had repelled all his predecessors, he reached 
Lake Ngami and the banks of the Zambesi ; when he made 
his marvellous journey to Angola, and then marched straight 
back across the continent from the Atlantic to the Indian 
Ocean, geographers were enabled to define Central Africa as 
a fertile plateau, with great lakes lying in vast basins, and 
rivers escaping to the sea through gorges or ravines in the 
mountain walls. Livingstone's actual discoveries have laid 
hare a continent to view ; but even more valuable than these 
is the impulse which his example has given to the cause of 
exploration in Europe and America. 

How Livingstone's body was embalmed in a rude but effec- 
tive fashion, wrapped in a strip of bark, and conveyed to the 
coast by the faithful men who constituted his caravan, is 
already known to the world. The march to Zanzibar from the 
farthest point ever reached by a white man in Central Africa, 
forms one of the most romantic and affecting episodes in the 
entire history of African exploration ; but we can do no more 
than mention it here. To its complete success we are indebted 
for our knowledge of what Livingstone really did during his 
seven years' journeyings ; and to it also we owe it that instead 
of sinking into an obscure, unhonored, and unknown grave in 
the marshes by Lake Bangweolo, the great traveller now rests 
in Westminster Abbey among his country's most illustrious 
dead. 



CHAPTEE XYIII. 

SCHWEINFURTH. 

Dr. Geokq a. Schweinfurtii was born at Riga in December, 
1836, and was the son of a merchant of that place. He studied 
at Heidelberg and Berlin, where he took his degree as Doctor 
of Philosophy, and devoted himself from his boyhood to the 
science of botany. At his first school one of his masters was 
the son of a missionary in Africa, and was accustomed to de- 
scribe with enthusiasm the wonders of that country; it was in 
this way, probably, that his mind was turned to that country 
which has since become the arena of achievements that have 
made him famous. The interest thus awakened was strength- 
ened by the fact that after he had arrived at manhood, a collec- 
tion of African plants was placed in his hand for classification 
and arrangement. These plants had been collected, in 1860, by 
the young Freiherr von Barnim, w^ho had, in company with Dr. 
Hartmann, made a journey in the region of the Nile, and had 
fallen a victim to the climate. As Dr. Schweinf urth day by 
day studied these dry specimens, a yearning came upon him to 
visit the scenes in which he might look upon them in all their 
bloom and beauty. He therefore, in 1863, went to Egypt that 
he might gratify this desire, and, perchance, further the interests 
of his beloved science by the discovery of new species. He 
went at his own cost, and, having botanized in the Delta of the 
Nile, travelled along the shores of the Ked Sea, skirted the 
highlands of Abyssinia, made his way to Khartoom, and finally 
returned to Europe, after an absence of two years and a half,- 
with a splendid collection of plants. 

Having once tasted of what was to him the great enjoy- 
ment of African travel, Schweinfurtii began very soon to lan- 
guish for its repetition. He therefore submitted to the lioyal 
Academy of Science at Berlin apian for the botanical explora- 
tion of the equatorial districts lying west of the Nile. His pro- 
posal was readily accepted, and he received a grant of the dis- 
posable funds of the Humboldt Institution of Natural Phi- 
losophy and Travels, the object of which is, without regard to 
nationality or creed, to assist talent in every field in which 
Humboldt had displayed his scientific energies, and especially 



420 SCHWEINFUBTH. 

to promote travels in remote parts of the world. He conse- 
quently spent the three years from 1868 to 1871 in African 
exploration. 

His account of his travels has recently been published in an 
English translation entitled " The Heart of Africa," and it is 
from this that we shall abridge the following narrative. Before 
entering upon that, however, it may be well to observe that Dr. 
Schweinf urth is a man whose personal attainments have rarely 
if ever been equaled by any of the rivals whose names are found 
in the long list of African explorers. An accomplished natural- 
ist, a most enthusiastic scientific botanist, with sufficient knowl- 
edge of ethnology to enable him to study intelligently the com- 
plicated network of races that overspreads the whole of Central 
Africa, an ardent geographer, a thoroughly trained observer, 
master of a style which is lucid and pleasing, if somewhat dif- 
fuse, and a draughtsman whose sketclies are finished works of 
art, he possesses nearly every qualification, natural or acquired, 
that could be desired for such an undertaking. And in addition 
to this, his expedition was made under circumstances unprece- 
dentedl}^ advantageous. Instead of the helpless dependence 
upon the prejudices and caprice of petty chieftains, which has 
been the lot of every other adventurer into these regions. Dr. 
Schweinf urth was, during the entire period of his explorations, 
under the protection of an escort of the powerful trading com- 
panies of the great Khartoom merchants — a privileged com- 
panion of their remotest expeditions, and an honored guest in 
their serihas. His progress among the interior tribes, owing to 
the curiosity and awe which he inspired, and the powerful allies 
with whom he travelled, was almost a triumphal march ; and 
even among the savage and tameless Monbutto, he dictated 
terms rather than accepted toleration. Scarcely once during 
his three years' journeying was he subjected to those perils 
which were almost the daily experience of previous African 
explorers. The result is that his book is a record, not so much 
of '' hair-breadth 'scapes " and perilous adventure, as of careful 
scientific investigations prosecuted under extremely favorable 
conditions. 

In July, 1868, Schweinfurth found himself once more, to his 
great delight, on the soil of Africa. After a brief visit to 
Egypt, during which he provided himself with papers from 
the Prime Minister of the Viceroy to the governors in the in- 
terior which contributed materially to the success of his enter- 
prise, he visited Suez and decided to proceed to Khartoom by 
way of Suakin and Berber instead of making the long voyage 



SCEWEINFURTH. 421 

np the Kile. Suakin is a port on the Eed Sea about 200 miles 
distant from Berber, and he made the journey between the 
two places in a leisurely way, diverging from the main route 
to make a tour throiigli the mountains ox Southern Nubia. He 
reached Berber on October 7th, and embarking on the Nile 
arrived at Khartoom, the real starting-point of nis expedition, 
on the 1st of November. 

Instead of fitting out an independent expedition with native 
soldiers and portei-s, as was the custom with most previous ex- 
plorers, he concluded that such a course would not only arouse 
the hostility of the chiefs into whose territory he desired to 
penetrate, but would encounter the jealousy of the traders and 
merchants, whose influence is predominant in all the regions 
whither they penetrate, and determined to attach himself to 
the train of the ivory-merchants of Khartoom, trusting that 
the countries opened by them would offer suflicient scope for 
all iiis energies. These merchants maintain a great number of 
settlements in districts as near as possible to the present ivory 
countries. They have apportioned the territory amongst them- 
selves, and have brought the natives to a condition of vassalage. 
Under the protection of an armed guard procured from Khar- 
toom, they have established various depots, undertaken expedi- 
tions into the interior, and secured an unmolested transit to and 
fro. These depots for ivory, ammunition, barter-goods, and 
means of subsistence, are villages surrounded by palisades, and 
are called serihas. Every merchant, in the different districts 
where he maintains his settlements, is represented by a super- 
intendent and a number of subordinate agents. These agents 
command the armed men of the country ; determine what pi'o- 
ducts the subjected natives must pay by way of impost to sup- 
port the soldiers, as well as the number of bearers they must 
furnish for the distant exploring expeditions ; carry on war or 
make alliances with the chiefs of the ivory countries ; and once 
a year remit the collected stores to Khartoom. 

Both the principal districts of the Khartoom ivory-trade are 
accessible by the navigation of the two source affluents of the 
"White Nile, viz., the Bahr-el-Ghazal, or Gazelle Hiver, and the 
Bahr-el-Gebel. On the Bahr-el-Gebel, the extreme point of 
navigation is the well-known Gondokoro, the termination of a 
Series of voyages of discovery, which have opened up all the 
adjacent region. On the Bahr-el-Ghazal a kind of cul-de-sac 
leads to the only existing meshera, or landing-place ; but be- 
yond this the Khartoom people had already advanced some five 
degrees in a southerly and westerly direction into the ver^ 



422 SCRWEmFUnTH. 

heart of the unexplored region in which lie the sources of the 
Nile. This direction seemed decidedly most promising to an 
explorer, and accordingly Schweinfurth made a contract with 
a Coptic Christian named Ghattas, a rich ivory-trader, and the 
owner of large territory in the farthest interior. This contract 
was made under the special superWsion of the Governor-Gen^ 
eral of Khartoom, to whom the Prime Minister's orders before- 
mentioned were especially addressed. In it, Ghattas engaged 
to supply the means of subsistence, and to furnish Schwein- 
furth with bearers and an adequate number of armed men. 
He also placed at his disposal a boat for the journey up the 
river, and it was expressly stipulated that Schweinfurth should 
be at liberty to join all the enterprises and excursions of Ghat- 
tas' people. In addition to this, Ghattas was required to be- 
come surety against any misadventure that might happen to 
the traveller in the interior; and if the latter were betrayed to 
cannibals or left in the land among savages, the merchant would 
have good cause to apprehend the conhscation of his estates. 

In order to have about him a number of people upon whose 
fidelity and attachment he might rely under all circumstances, 
Sch\veinfurth took into his service six ISTubians who had settled 
in Khartoom with their wives and children, and who had al- 
ready travelled in different parts of the Upper Mle under 
other Europeans. He was also accompanied by Aislan, a great 
sheep-dog, which he had brought with him from Europe, and 
in all the villages through which he passed the inhabitants 
scampered off in terror, crying " Hyaena, hyaena ! " It was 
difficult to make them understand that the brown-spotted ani- 
mal was only a dog. 

All things being at length in readiness, the papers signed, 
the boat chartered, the crew engaged, and a " lucky day " fixed 
upon, the traveller left Khartoom on January 5th, 1869, for the 
voyage up the White Nile. Night and day the boat sailed or 
drifted toward the south, occasional stoppages being made to 
visit interesting localities or to botanize in the neighboring 
forests. At Fashoda, a garrison town at the extreme limit of 
the Egyptian empire, a stoppage of nine days was made ; and 
Schweinfurth took advantage of this to explore the neighbor- 
ing country of the Shillooks. 

The Shillook tribe inhabits the entire left bank of the White 
N"ile, occupying a territory about 200 miles long by 10 miles 
wide, which extends right to the mouth of the Gazelle Eiver. 
Their subjection to the Egyptian government, which was com- 
pleted in 1871, has caused a census to be taken, and it was 



SCHWEINFURTE. 423 

found that the villages numbered no less than 3,000, with a 
total population of about 1,200,000. No known part of Af- 
rica, scarcely even the narrow valley of the Nile in Egypt, has 
a density of population so great ; but a similar condition of 
circumstances, so favorable to the support of a teeming popu- 
lation, is perliaps without a^parallel in the world. Everything 
which contributes to the exuberance of life here finds a con- 
centrated field — agriculture, pasturage, fishing, and the chase. 
Agriculture is rendered easy by the natural fertility of the 
soil, by the recurrenco of the rainy seasons, b}^ irrigation ef- 
fected by the rising of the river, assisted by numerous canals, 
and by an atmosphere ordinarily so over-clouded as to moder- 
ate the radiance of the sun, and to retain throughout the year 
perpetual moisture. Of fishing there is plenty. There are 
crocodiles and hippopotamuses in abundance. Across the 
river there is a free and open chase over wildernesses wliicli 
would advantageously be built upon, but for tlie hostility of the 
neighboring Dinka. The pasture lands, on the same side of 
the river as the dwellings, are invaluable as supplying daily re- 
sorts for the cattle. 

The clusters of huts of which the Shillook villajves are com- 
posed, are built with surprising regularity, and are so closely 
crowded together that tliey cannot fail to suggest comparison 
with a thick mass of fungus or mushrooms. Every village has 
its overseer, whilst the overseers of 50 or 70, or sometimes of 
100 villages, are subject to a superintendent, who has control 
of what may be called the " district," and of such districts 
there are nearly a hundred, each of them distinguished by its 
particular name. 

In the centre of each village there is a circular space where, 
evenincT after eveninsr, the inhabitants conc-reirate, and, either 
stretched upon hides or squatting down on mats of ambatch, 
inhale the vapor from burning heaps of cow-dung to keep off 
the flies, or from pipes w^ith enormous clay bowls smoke the 
tobacco of the country. In these spaces there is frequently 
erected the great stem of a tree, on which, according to com- 
mon African usao:e, kettle-drums are hun2: and used to warn 
the inhabitants of any impending danger, and to communicate 
intelligence to the neighborhood. Most of the negro tribes are 
distinguished by the form of their huts. The huts of the 
Shillooks are built with higher walls than those of the Dinka, 
and, as an ordinary rule, are of smaller circumference ; the 
conical roofs do not rise to a peak," but are ratlier in the shape 
of flattened domeS. The villages are not enclosed externally, 



424: SCHWEINFURTH. 

but are bounded by fences made of straw-mats running be- 
tween the closely crammed houses, and which serve for shelter 
to the cattle of individual householders." 

Cattle-raising is the principal occupation of the Shillooks ; 
but besides cattle, they breed sheep and goats, and keep poultry 
and dogs. Other animals are scarce, and probably could not 
endure the climate. Throughout the country dogs abound, in 
shape like greyhounds, but smaller, and so fleet that with the 
greatest ease they outrun the gazelle. 

The men go entirely naked, but the women wear an apron 
of calf -skin, which is bound around their loins and reaches to 
their knees. Both sexes make use of cosmetics of their own, 
viz., a coating of ashes for protection against insects. When 
the ashes are prepared from wood they render tlie body per- 
fectly gray, and hereby are known the poor ; when obtained 
from cow-dung they give a rust^M-ed tint, and hereby can be 
recognized the landowners. Ashes, dung, and the urine of 
cows are the indispensable requisites of the toilet. The item 
last named affects the nose of the stranger rather unpleasantly 
when he makes use of any of their milk- vessels, as, according 
to a regular African habit, they are washed with it, probably 
to compensate for a lack of salt. 

Like most of the naked and half-naked Africans, they de- 
■^vote the greatest attention to the arrangement of their hair; 
on every other portion of the body all growth of hair is stopped 
'by its being all carefully plucked out at its very first appear- 
ance. Among the men, the repeated application of clay, gum, 
or dung, so effectually clots the hair together that it retains, as 
it were, voluntarily the desired form ; at one time like a comb, 
at another -like a helmet, or, it may be, like a fan. Many of 
the Shillook men present in this respect a great vanity. A 
good many wear transversely across the skull a comb as broad 
as a man's hand, which, like a nimbus of tin, stretches from 
ear to ear, and terminates behind in two drooping circular 
lappets. Occasionally there are heads for which one comb 
does not suffice, and on these several combs, parallel to one 
.another at small intervals, are arranged in lines. There is a 
third form, far from uncommon, than which nothing can be 
more grotesque ; it may be compared to the crest of a guinea- 
fowl, of which it is an obvious imitation. The women wear 
-short-cropped hair which appears to be stippled over with fresh- 
sprouting, woolly locks. Their external appearance is not 
iimproved by the absence of the lower incisor teeth, which are 
;always broken off in early life. 



SCHWEINFURTK 425 

The only conception which the Shillook entertain of a higher 
existence is limited to their reverence for a certain hero, who 
is called the Father of his race, and who is supposed to have 
conducted them to the land which they at present occupy. In 
case of famine, or in order that they may have rain, or that 
they may reap a good harvest, they call upon him by name. 
Tliey imagine of tlie dead that they are lingering amongst the 
living and still attend them. 

The voyage from Fashoda to the confluence of the Gazelle 
and the Bahr-el-Gebel was devoid of any striking incidents ; 
but before the mouth of the Gazelle was gained, the boat had 
to encounter the famous grass-barrier which at this point ren- 
ders the navigation of the White INile almost impossible. Vast 
masses of grass, papyrus, and ambatch cover the whole stream 
like a carpet, which is scarcely, more penetrable than an ice- 
floe. Every here and there, indeed, the force of the current 
may open a kind of rift, but not corresponding at all with the 
deeper and true channel of the river. Such a rift is not avail- 
able for any passage of the boats, and as the position of the 
weedy mass is constantly shifting, the most experienced pilots are 
sometimes utterly bafiled in the attempt to thread the labyrinth. 
Six days were spent by Schweinfurth in getting through, and 
even then success was achieved only by the men getting out on 
the grass-islands and pulling and shoving the boat over obsta- 
cles by main force. This singular grass-tangle fills the larger 
part of the r.hannel of the Gazelle all the way up to the 
Meshera, or landing-place (Port Rek), and then fairly chokes 
it up, forming the cul-de-sac ^h.\G\i has always formed the limit 
of navigation, and which was to be the starting-point of the 
expedition into the interior. 

Whether the Gazelle or the Bahr-el-Gebel is the main stream 
of the White Nile is still an unsolved problem. Speke refers 
to the Gazelle as " an unimportant stream ; " but Schweinfurth 
accuses him of something like deliberate misrepresentation, 
and maintains that it has a claim in every way as valid as the 
Bahr-el-Gebel. " In truth it would appear to stand in some 
relation to the Bahr-el-Gebel as the White Nile does to the 
Blue." During his subsequent journeys he obtained evidence, 
that with its various aflluents, including the Bah r-el- Arab and 
the Dyoor, it traverses a region of not less than 150,000 square 
miles. lie also became convinced that the Bahr-el-Arab is the 
main stream. If this be so, the real sources of the Nile are to 
be found far to the west of the region fixed upon by Living- 
stone, Speke, and Baker. 



420 SGHWEINFURTB, 

Scliweinfurtli arrived at the Meshera on February 24:th, and 
a month hater, m Marcli 25th, a start was made for the chief 
seriba of Ghattas, 200 miles distant in the interior. Several 
smaller companies having joined Ghattas's expedition, the 
number of the caravan was but little under four hundred. Of 
these the armed men alone amounted to nearly two hundred, 
and constituted a force which might have crossed the largest 
state in Central Africa unmolested. Their course lay in a 
tolerably straight S. S. W. direction across the western district 
of the extensive territory of the unsubdued Dinka. The cara- 
van rested occasionally in the deserted villages and crowded 
the empty cattle-pens belonging to the natives, who made their 
escape as it advanced. Ey their continued cattle-stealing, the 
Nubians have caused all the Dinka tribes to consider foreign 
interlopers as their bitter enemies, and the merchants' com- 
panies dare not pass through their country except with an 
adequate number of armed men. 

Schweinfurth's relations with this strange pastoral people 
were, throughout the two j^ears which he spent in the interior, 
but rarely discontinued ; and he regards them as among the 
foremost of ^the native people. They occupy a wide extent of 
territory, and are divided into various tribes, some of which, 
in regard to height and bodily size, stand prominent in the 
scale of the human race. '' Every idea and thought of the 
Dinka is how to acquire and maintain cattle : a kind of rever- 
ence would seem to be paid to them ; even their offal is con- 
sidered of high importance ; the dung which is burned to 
ashes for sleeping in and for smeanng their persons, and the 
urine, which is used for washing and as a substitute for salt, 
are tlieir daily requisites. A cow is never slaughtered, but 
when sick is separated from the rest, and cai'ef ully tended in 
the large huts built for the purpose. Only those that die nat- 
urally or by an accident are used as food. Indescribable is the 
grief when either death or rapine has robbed a Dinka of his 
cattle. He is prepared to redeem their loss by the heaviest 
sacrifices, for they are dearer to him than wife or child. A 
dead cow is not, however, wantonly buried ; the negro is not 
sentimental enough for that ; such an occurrence is soon bruited 
abroad, and the neighbors institute a carousal which is quite 
an epoch in their monotonous life. The bereaved owner him- 
self is, however, too much afflicted at the loss to touch a morsel 
of the carcass of his departed beast. Not unfrequently in 
their sorrow the Dinka remain for days silent and abstracted, 
as though their trouble were too heavy for them to bear." 



SGHWEINFURTB'. 427 

Single cattle-yards sometimes hold as many as 10,00C beasts. 
When asked what good they get from their possessions of oxen, 
they always answer that it is quite enough if they get fat and 
look nice. The other domestic animals kept by the Dinka are 
sheep of a peculiar breed, goats, and dogs. 

The Dinka dwellings consist of. small groups of huts clus- 
tered in farmsteads over the cultivated plain ; villages in a 
proper sense there are none. As a rule the huts are spacious, 
and more durable than those of other tribes who build their 
dwellings in the same conical form. They are not unfre- 
quently 40 feet in diameter ; their foundations are composed 
of a mixture of clay and chopped straw, and the supports of 
the roof are made of branches of acacia and other hard woods. 
The roof is contrived out of lavers of cut straw. These build- 
ings last eight or ten years, and decay at length mainly through 
being worm-eaten. ' 

The Dinka women are scrupulously clothed with two aprons 
of untanned skin, which reach before and behind from the 
hips to the ankles, and are trimmed round the edge with rows 
of beads, small iron rings, and little bells. But it is considered 
effeminate and improper for a man to wear any clothing what- 
ever. A clothed man is contemptuously called '^ a woman." 
Men and women alike pierce their ears in several places, and 
insert iron rings or brass. The women also bore the upper lip 
and fit in an iron pin, running through a bead. Tattooing is 
only practised by the men, and always consists of about ten 
radiating strokes which traverse the forehead and temples, 
having the base of the nose for a centre. Both sexes break off 
the lower incisor teeth, a custom whicli they practise in com- 
mon with the majority of the natives of the district of the 
Bahr-el-Gliazal. The men make their hair straight by much 
combing, and give it a reddish tinge by continued washing 
with cow-urine, or by the application for a fortnight of a mix- 
ture of dunoj and ashes. The women wear their hair either 
closely shaven or as short as possible. All alike wear a pro- 
fusion of iron and ivory rings on their ankles and wrists, orna- 
ments of leather, and the tails of cows and goats. In culinary 
matters the Dinka are superior to either Nubians, Arabs, or 
Egyptians ; and their behavior at meals corresponds with the 
choiceness of their cookery. They eat separately, passing the 
dishes from one to another like Europeans; and at Schwein- 
furth^s table, they took to knives and forks as though they had 
been bred to their use. They are very particular too in the 
choice of their animal food, and the accounts of the canibalism 



428 SGEWEmFURTH. 

of the Niam-i^iam excite as m ch horror amongst them a$ 
amongst ourselves. They are great smokers, and their smok- 
ing apparatus is so ponderous that every one is obliged to sit 
down while he smokes. In war they are brave and daring, 
and their independence of character is such that they have not 
only remained unsubdued by the Khartoomers, but are seldom 
molested by the slave-hunters. 

Ghattas' chief seriba, the termination of the present journey, 
was reached on the 30th of March. It lies on the border-lines 
of the three races, the Dinka, the Dyoor, and the Bongo ; and 
with it are associated ^nq smaller settlements in the adjoining 
Bongo country, and four more in remoter spots. From an in- 
significant beginning it had, in the course of thirteen years, 
become of such importance as a trading-station that at the time 
of Schweinf urth's visit it contained not less than a thousand in- 
habitants, including about 250 armed men and some hundreds 
of slaves. The actual seriba, or palisaded enclosure, was only 
about 200 paces square, and was literally crammed with huts. 
Outside the enclosure, the buildings were scattered over the 
fields, and for two miles round, the land was partitioned into 
fields which were tilled by the natives who had settled in the 
vicinit}^ The chief agricultural productions, here and through- 
out Central Africa, are first the sorghum, which is the staple, 
and three other kinds of corn, the pencillaria or Arabian 
" dokhn," the telaboon, and the African maize. There is one 
quality which pertains equally to all these varieties of grain 
which are grown in these torrid regions ; it is not possible from 
their flour to make bread in the way to which we are accus- 

j. tomed. All that can be made from the fermented dough is the 

I Arabian bread, " Kissere," — tough, leathery slices, cooked like 

pan-cakes on a frying-pan. If the fermentation has gone far 
enough to make the dough rise for a good, spongy loaf, when 
it is put into the oven it all crumbles up, and its particles will 
not hold together ; if, on the other hand, the fermentation has 
not proceeded sufficiently, the result is a heavy lump which the 
natives wrap up in leaves and bake in the ashes.. Various le- 
guminous plants and tuberous vegetables, such as the yam, are 
also cultivated ; and last but not least, tobacco, which attains a 
height of about 18 inches only, with leaves a span long, and 

,. blossoms invariably white. 

j| Schweinfurth was expected at the -seriba, and two neatly- 

built huts of moderate size, within the palisade, had been pre- 
pared for him. Of these he took immediate possession, and 
they formed his headquarters for several months. 



SCEWEINFURTn. 429 

" My excursions about the neighborhood soon began, and 
these, with the arrangement of my dail}' collections, occupied 
the greater part of my time. In unfailing good health, I 
passed the first few weeks in a transport of joy, literally enrap- 
tured by the unrivalled loveliness of nature. The early rains 
had connnenced, and were clothing all the park-like scenery, 
meadows, trees, and shrubs, with the verdure of spring. Emu- 
lating the tulips and hyacinths of our own gardens, sprang up 
everywhere splendid bulbous plants ; whilst amongst the fresh 
foliage gleamed blossoms of the gayest hue. The April rains 
are not continuous, but nevertheless, trees and underwood were 
all in bloom, and the grass was like a lawn for smoothness. In 
Tropical Africa, after long continuance of rain, the grass may 
be considered more as a defect than as an ornament in the land- 
scape : the obstructions which it interposes to the view of the 
traveller considerably mar his enjoyment of the scenery ; but 
throughout the period of the early rains its growth is remarka- 
bly slow, and it takes some months to attain a height suthcient 
to conceal the numerous flowering weeds and bulbs which dis- 
play their blossoms at the same season." 

During April and May he made a variety of journeys to the 
neighboring seribas, in one of which, lasting over three weeks, 
he explored the Dyoor River. This is one of the most impor- 
tant tributaries of the White Nile system. It rises in the east- 
ern portion of the Niam-Niam country, in lat. 5° 35', and its 
main course, omitting the smaller windings, extends over 350 
miles. On these excursions he had fine opportunities of hunt- 
ing the game of the country: buffalo, giraffes, antelopes, 
hurtlebeests, genets, civets, zebra-ichneumons, warthogs, wild 
pigs, cats, lynxes, servals, and caracals. The bear-baboon was 
also seen. 

At Geer, he for the first time saw the natives abandoning 
themselves to one of their wild orgies. " The festival was held 
to celebrate the sowing of the crops ; and confident in the hope 
that the (Ijoming season would bring abundant rains, the light- 
hearted Bongo anticipated their harvest. For the preparation 
of their beer they encroached very lavishly on their present 
corn stores, quite indifferent to the fact that for the next two 
months they would be reduced to the necessity of grubbing 
after roots and devouring any chance bird or even any creep- 
ing thing that might come in their way. Incredible quantities 
of " legyee " were consumed, so as to raise the party to the de- 
gree of excitement necessary for so prolonged a revel. In 
honor of the occasion there was produced a long array of musi- 



430 8CHWE1NFURTH. 

cal instruments, but the confusion of sound beggared the rag- 
ing of all the elements, and made me marvel as to what music 
might come to. They danced till their bodies reeked again 
with the oil of the butter-tree. Had they been made of india- 
rubber their movements could scarcely have been more elastic ; 
indeed, their skins had all the appearance of gutta-percha. 
The whole scene was more like a fantoccini than any diversion 
of living bein<ys." 

Daring his exploration of the Dyoor Hiver he became famil- 
iar with the Dyoor tribe, a branch of the Shillooks apparently, 
though distinguished by a lighter skin, who occupy a small 
territory, and number only 20,000 souls. Dyoor is a name as- 
signed by the Dinka, and is synonymous with men of the woods, 
or wild men. It is a term of contempt, and is intended to im- 
ply the condition of poverty, in which, according to Dinka 
ideas, the Dyoor spend their existence, giving their sole atten- 
tion to agriculture and their few goats and poultry, and owning 
no cattle. They speak of themselves as Lwoh. 

In spite of their intercourse with and partial dependence 
upon the Dinka, the Dyoor have not departed from the Shillook 
mode of decorating themselves; though the decorations of the 
hair characteristic of the Dinka and the Shillook alike are to- 
tallj^ rejected, and botli men and women wear their hair closely 
cropped. Their only clothing is a short covering of leather 
which they wear round the back of their loins, something like 
the skirts of an ordinary frock coat ; a calf -skin answers their 
purpose best, of which they make two tails to hang down be- 
hind. The favorite ornaments of the men very much resemble 
those of the Dinka, consisting of a collection of iron rings be- 
low the elbow, and a huge ivory ring above it. One decoration 
peculiar to themselves consists of heavy circlets of molten 
brass, very elaborately engraved. The women, too, burden 
their wrists and ankles with clusters of rings ; and very fre- 
quentty one great iron ring is thrust through the nose, the hole 
to admit it being bored indifferently through the base, the 
bridge, or the nostrils. The rims of the ears are also pierced 
to carry an indefinite number of rings. One of the most ad- 
mired decorations is a string of iron beads or little perforated 
cylinders of iron. 

The huts of the Dyoor are made of wickerwork either of 
wood or bamboo, cemented with clay, and the roof is a simple 
pyramid of straw. Inside every hut there is a large receptacle 
lor storing whatever corn or other provision is necessary for the 
household. These are made of wickerwork, and have a shape 



SCHWEINFURTE. 431 

like great bottles ; and to protect them from the rats, they are 
most carefully overdaubed with thick clay. They occiipy a 
very large proportion of the open space in the interior ; very 
often they are six or seven feet high, and sometimes are made 
from a compound of chopped stubble and mud. 

The women do all the work of the fields as well as the work 
of the house. Tlie men are very skilful iron-workers, notwith- 
standing the clumsiness of their instruments ; and their prod- 
ucts, in the sliape of spear-heads or spades, answer all the pur- 
poses of money throughout the whole district of the Upper 
Nile. Dr. Schweinf urth estimates that in Africa iron has a 
value about equivalent to copper with us, whilst the worth of 
copper corresponds to that of silver. The Dyoor have good 
large families, and affection for children and parents is devel- 
oped among them more decidedly than in any other Central 
African tribe. 

After his return to Ghattas' seriba, Schweinfurth set his 
people to work laying out a vegetable garden, the larger part 
of which he planted with maize of which the original ears 
came from New Jersey. " Seventy days after sowing I reaped 
the crop, and the ingathering did not simply answer my high- 
est expectations, but surpassed in quality the original stock." 
Tobacco from Maryland grew to an immense height. The 
next fiVQ months he spent in botanizing, during which he col- 
lected and classified nearly 700 flowering plants ; and in study- 
ing the habits of the Bongo, a people, he says, which, though 
visibly on the decline, may still by its peculiarity and striking 
independence in nationality, language, and customs, be selected 
from amid the circle of its neighbors as a genuine type of 
African life. 

The Bongo occupy a territory about 175 miles long by 50 
miles wide, lying on the south-western boundary of the depres- 
sion of the Bahr-el-Ghazal basin. They number about 100, 
000, and are a finely-formed, athletic race, but being of an un- 
warlike character have been reduced to a state of vassalage by 
the Khartoomers who compelled them to leave their homes and 
settle near the numerous seribas established in their country. 
They furnish the larger number of bearers for the ivory expe- 
dition into the remote interior, and by their tillage of the soil 
provide all the food for the seribas except what is obtained by 
cattle-raids in the land of the Dinka. Their complexion is 
similar in color to the red-brown soil on which they reside ; and 
Schweinfurth considers them members of a family of reddish- 
hued races, distinct from the Dinka, Dyoor, Shillook, etc., and 



432 ' SCHWEmFURTH. 

including the l^iam-Niam, Mittoo, Kredy, and others. Besides 
agriculture, which is their chief industry, and the raising of 
goats, dogs, and poultry, they hunt and fish, and the men are 
expert iron-workers. With the rudest conceivable bellows and 
a hammer wliich is oftener than not a round pebble-stone, an 
anvil of gneiss or granite, and a pair of tongs composed of a 
split stick of greenwood, "they contrive to fabricate articles 
which would bear comparison witli the productions of an Eng- 
lish smith." These consist of spear-heads, spades, knives, etc., 
which are used extensively as money. Hardly inferior to their 
skill in the working of iron is their skill in wood-carving. The 
most striking specimens of their art in this way, are the four 
legged stools for women (the men consider it effeminate to sit 
on anything except the ground) which are found in every 
household, and which are invariably made from a single block. 
Besides these are beautifully- shaped mortars and pestles for 
bruising corn, threshing-flails, troughs for oil-pressing, spoons, 
and, most remarkable of all, wooden representations of the 
human figure which are placed round the tombs of departed 
chieftains, and of any male person who has been murdered. 
The women make excellent pottery, and have learned tlie art 
of tanning from the Nubians. The Bongo bestow more pains 
upon their dwellings than any people in the Gazelle district. 
The materials employed are upright tree-stems, bamboo canes, 
clay, and tough grass and the bast of the Grewia. The dwell- 
ings are usually about 20 feet in diameter, with a door so made 
that it is necessary to creep through in order to get inside ai.d 
closed with a hurdle, and a level clay floor. The bedding con- 
sists of skins only, and the pillow is a branch of a tree smoothed 
by being stripped of its bark. The peak of the roof is always 
furnished with a circular pad of straw which serves for a seat, 
and from which a survey of the surrounding country may be 
obtained. 

They are disgusting feeders. " With the exception of human 
flesh and the flesh of dogs, the Bongo seem to consider all ani- 
mal substance fit for eating in whatever condition it may be 
found. The putrefying remnant of a lion's feast, which lies in 
the obscurity of a forest and is only revealed by the kites and 
vultures circulating in the air above, is to them a welcome dis- 
covery. That meat is ' high,' is a guarantee for its being ten- 
der, and they deem it in that condition not only more strength- 
ening than when it is fresh, but likewise more easy of digest- 
ion. Rats, mice, snakes, earth-scorpions, caterpillars, carrion- 
vultures, big hyaenas, all are to them delicious morsels. Theii 



, SCEWEINFURTH. 433 

coniitry is very prolific in imislirooms, which they keep till on 
the verge of decay and then dry and pound, using the powder 
for flavoring tlieir sauces. They are inveterate smokers and 
chewers, compress the tobacco into cakes like our * cavendish/ 
and carry half-chewed quids behind their ears. 

For clothing the men wear a skin or strip of cloth round the 
loins ; but the women refuse to wear any covering whatever, 
whether of skin or stuff, and replenish their wardrobe every 
morning with a bunch of grass or bough of a tree fastened to 
the girdle. Both men and women wear the hair closely- 
cropped or in tufts on the top. The men tattoo themselves ; 
wear necklaces of beads, wood, talons of owls and eagles, teetli 
of dogs, crocodiles, or jackals, little tortoise-shells, etc. ; rings 
on the wrist and upper part of the arms ; and some of them 
pierce the skin of the stomach above the waist and insert a 
wooden peg. The women attain an astounding girth of body ; 
" their thiiirhs are very often as lai'o^e as a man's chest, and their 
measurement across the hips can hardly fail to recall the pic- 
ture in Cuvier's Atlas of the now famous ' Hottentot Yenus.' " 
They wear aii accumulation of cords and beads round their 
necks ; masses of iron and copper rings on their wrists, arms, 
and ankles, and in the rims of their ears ; and a round-headed 
copper-nail or plate in the lower lip. As soon as a woman is 
married the operation commences of extending her lower lip. 
This, at first only slightly bored, is widened by inserting into 
the orifice plugs of wood gradually increasing in size, until at 
length the entire feature is enlarged to five or six times its orig- 
inal proportions. By this means the lower lip is extended hor- 
izontally^ till it projects far beyond the upper, which is also 
fitted with a copper plate or nail, and now and then by a little 
ring, and sometimes by a bit of straw about as thick as a luci- 
fer-match. Nor do they leave the nose intact ; similar bits of 
straw are inserted into the edges of the nostrils, occasionally 
three on either side. A very favorite ornament for the carti- 
lage between the nostrils is a copper ring, just like those placed 
in the noses of buffaloes and other beasts of burden for the 
purpose of rendering them moi'e tractable. The greatest co- 
quettes among the ladies wear a clasp or cramp at the cornei's 
of the mouth, as though they wanted to contract the orifice, 
and ■ literally to put a curb upon its capabilities. Both sexes 
break off the lower incisor teeth. 

Wives are purchased, and ai-e limited to three in number ; in 
case of divorce the father is compelled to restore a portion or 
all of the purchase-monej. A laudable custom is one which 
28 



434 8CHWEINFURTH. 

forbids all children not at the breast to sleep in the sU,me hut 
with their parents. ]S"o marriage is allowed till the youth is 
1 8 and the girl 15 years old. Yery old people of either sex, 
but especially old women, are suspected of witchcraft, and 
put out of the way. The insane are shackled, hand and foot, 
and ducked in the river, and if this does not cure, are kept in 
confinement by their relatives. Such people are thought to be 
bewitched. Certain kinds of meat are prescribed to maintain 
the strength of invalids — for " general debility " a ^particular 
value is attributed to the fiesh of a bird (G-ullukoo) which has 
a detestable flavor. The Bongo are very fond of music, have 
a great variety of instruments, and sing in chorus. The/ bury 
the dead in a sitting posture, the men with the face turned to 
the north and the women to the south. They have not the 
faintest idea of the immortality of the soul, but believe in 
" loma " (luck), and have an amazing fear of ghosts whieh they 
believe to people the shadowy darkness of the woods. To ward 
off the evil influence of the spirits they use magical roots in 
which professional sorcerers trade. Good spirits are quite un- 
recognized, and, according to the general negro idea, no benefit 
can ever come from a spirit at all. 

On the 17th of November, the end of the rainy season having 
come, Schweinf urth accepted the invitation of Mohammed 
Aboo Sam mat, a rival merchant of Ghattas, to accompany him 
on an expedition to the Niam-Niam lands. He had spent the 
intervening months in botanizing and studying the habits and 
language of the people, no incident breaking the monotony of 
his occupations except a midnight storm during ^hich six fe- 
male slaves were struck dead by lightning and his own hut 
narrowly escaped destruction in the resulting fire. He joined 
Aboo Sammat's caravan on the 17th of November, and went 
with him to his Seriba, 70 miles distant, on the borders of the 
Niam-Niam territory. 

This Aboo Sammat, of whom Schweinf urth speaks as " the 
magnanimous Nubian," was a native of Dar-Kenoos, ajid in his 
way was a little hero. " Sword in hand he had vanquished va- 
rious districts large enough to have formed small* states in Eu- 
rope. A merchant full of enterprise, he avoided no danger 
and was sparing neither of trouble nor of sacrifice; in the 
words of the Horaz, ' he explored the distant Indies, and com- 
passed sea and land to escape poverty.' Yet alL-^he while he 
had the keeneest sympathy with learning, and could travel 
through the remotest countries at the bidding of science to see 
the wonders of the world." Farther along Dr. Schweinfurth 



SCHWEINFURTH. 435 

says : " Al! the museums — particularly those which are appro- 
priated to botan}^ — which have been enriched by my journey- 
ii^^s are indebted to Aboo Samraat for not a few of their nov- 
eiiies. Solel}^ because I was supported by him did I succeed 
in pushing my way to the Upper Shary, more than 800 miles 
fr^m Khartoom, thus opening fresh districts to geographical 
knowledge and establishing the existence of some enigmatical 
people. Everything, moreover, that he did was suggested by 
his own free ijrill. No compulsion of government was put upon 
him, no inducements on my part were held out, and, what is 
more, no thought of compensation for his outlay on myself or 
party eveiientered his mind. The purest benevolence prompted 
him — the high virtue of hospitality in its noblest sense." It 
was his generosity chiefly which made Schweinfurtli's expe- 
riences in Africa so different from those of his predecessors, 
whose sufferings and trials we have hinted at in previous chap- 
ters. 

They reached Sabby, Aboo Sammat's head seriba, on Nov- 
ember 23d, after a march of seven days through a beautiful park- 
like country. While preparations were making for the expedi- 
tion into the Niam-Niam countr}^, Schweinfurth made a tour of 
all the neighboring seribas, and had an opportunity of seeing 
»how the Khartoom merchants settle their yokes upon newly 
subjected tribes. The people were mostly Bongo, like those 
ill Ghattas' country, and a collection of tribes called collectively 
Mittoo, and Aboo Sammat had only brought them into sub- 
J'ection during the year previous to Schweinfurtli's visit. In 
the scale of huijianity the Mittoo tribes are decidedly inferior 
to the Bongo, from whom they are distinguished, by a darker 
complexion and a less athletic bodily frame. Their domestic 
industries and their personal ornaments are very similar to 
those of the Bongo, though the women even surpass the latter 
in the mutilation of the lips. Not satisfied with piercing the 
lower lip, they distend the upper one as well. Corcula plates 
as large as ^ crown-piece, made of quartz, ivory, or horn, are 
inserted into lips that have been so stretched as to lie in a posi- 
tion that is all %\\t horizontal ; and when the women want to 
di-ink they have to elevate the upper lip with their fingers and 
pour the draught into their mouths. The Mittoo display a 
I'emarkable talent for music, and construct a great variety 
of instruments. ' The most important of these is a lyre with a 
sounding-board, not unlike the robaba used by the people of 
Nubia. The flute is m.ade quite on the European principle 
and is expertly handled. They also sing in chorus, keeping 



436 



SCEWEINFURTH. 



admirable time. Like most of the Central African tribes the 
Mittoo can only count up to ten, everything above that number 
having to be denominated by gestures. Schweinfurth saw an 
amusing illustration of this when Aboo Sammat was trying 
to make a chief understand the number of bearers he was to 
furnish. " At last some bundles of reeds were tied together 
in tens, and then the negro, although he could not express the 
number, comprehended perfectly what was required of him. 
Kunagera was to furnish 1,530 bearers, and being asked 
whether he understood, made an affirmative gesture, took the 




MITTOO WOMEN. 



immense bundle of reeds under his arm, and walked off gravely 
to his village." 

On the 29th of January, all things being in readiness for 
the long expedition to the Niam-Niam, the caravan set out. 
There were no less than 1,000 bearers and soldiers, the latter 
numbering 400; and substantially the whole day was consunied 
in getting started. The line of march was nearly due south 
through a pleasant, park-like country, well-watered by numer- 
ous small streams ; and on the fourth day the territoiy of the 
first Eiam-Mam chief, J^ganye, was entered. At first the 



SCHWEINFURTH. 437 

natives with their wives and children, their dogs and poultry, 
tlieir guitars, their baskets, their pots and pans, and all their 
household articles, made off to the thickest parts of tlie steppes, 
their hiding-places being often betrayed, however, by the 
cackling of their fowls; but from Nganye, who was on very 
friendly terms with Aboo Sammat, they received a warm 
welcome and liberal entertainment. Here Schweinfurth had 
the first opportunity of seeing the Niam-Niam in the reality of 
their natural life, and his interest in them was in proportion to 
their importance as the leading race of Central Africa. They 
arc tall, well-proportioned, intelligent, warlike, and impatient 
of restraint even by their chiefs, whose power is strictly 
liniited, though they are entitled to a percentage on all the 
ivory taken and to half the meat of all elephants killed. As 
became a people with whom hunting is the chief pursuit, the 
Xiam-Niam were girded with skins. High upon their elabo- 
rately dressed hair they wore straw hats covered with feathers 
and cowries, and' fastened on with long bodkins of iron or 
copper. Their chocolate-colored skin is painted in stripes, 
like those of a tiger; and their bearing is almost chivalrous, 
''exhibiting a very strong contrast to the unpolished noncha- 
lance of the Bongo, the Mittoo, and even the finicking Arabs." 
The women are much more reserved and shy than with the 
Bongo or Mittoo ; they scarcely look at a stranger, and will go 
far out of their way to avoid meeting him. Kwd. it is one of 
the fine traits of the Niam-Niam that they display an unpre- 
cedented affection for their wives. A husband will spare no 
sacrifice to redeem an imprisoned wife, and the Nubians turn 
this to profitable account in the ivory-trade. They are proud 
of large families, and punish adultery with death. Their 
country is marvellously productive, and game abounds; but 
they are cannibals, eating their prisoners, and even their own 
kin on an emergency. Their war cry is "Meat! Meat!" and 
is well adapted to strike terror into their foes. They drink 
enormous quantities of beer, made from a cereal known as 
" raggi " in India. They are skilful iron-workers, wood-carvers, 
basket-makers, and potters. They are extremely fond of music, 
and have wandering minstrels who play on a kind of guitar 
and accompany it with an improvised song. Their method of 
salutation, like most other Central African tribes, is by hand- 
fthakinir — the hand being grasped in such a way as to make the 
joints (A the two middle fingers crack. Their language con- 
tains no equivalent for God or prayer, and they have no relig- 
ion ; but there is a general belief in magic. Nothing can 



438 SCHWEmFURTH. 

shake their conviction that the possession of certain charmed 
roots contributes to success in the chase, so that the best shots, 
when they have killed an immense amount of game, ai-e 
credited with having such roots in their keeping. Ivorj is the 
commodity which they use in trade with the Khartoomers, and 
their principal method of securing it is to set fire to the long 
grass which covers the steppes, well knowing that the elephants 
cannot escape. A war of annihilation is this, in which neither 
male nor female, old nor young, can escape destruction ; and 
Dr. Schweinfurth may well repine that this noble animal is 
put to such indiscriminate slaughter for no other reason than 
that we may have ivory billiard-balls, piano-forte keys, and other 
unimportant items of luxury. 

Schweinfurth visited Nganye next day, and though the chief 
himself manifested little curiosity, the Niam-Niam people 
here and everywhere throughout his journey exhibited the 
keenest interest. " Their curiosity seemed to be insatiable, 
and the}^ never wearied in their inquiries as \o my origin. To 
their mind the mystery was as to where I could have come 
from ; my hair was the greatest of enigmas to them ; it gave me 
a supernatural look, and accordingly the}^ asked whether I had 
dropped from the clouds or was a visitor from the moon, and 
could not believe that anything like me liad been seen before." 
AVhen the people came to visit him, as they constantly did, he 
had to provide for their entertainment, " and in this respect," 
lie says, " I was greatly assisted by my matches, as the marvel 
of my being able to produce fire at my pleasure was an inex- 
haustible source of interest. If ever 1 handed over a lucifer 
and let them light it themselves, their rapture surpassed all 
bounds ; they never failed to consider that the power of pro- 
ducing flames resided in me, but their astonishment was very 
greatly increased when they discovered that the faculty could 
be extended to themselves. Giving the white man credit for 
being able to procure fire or rain at his own free will, they 
looked upon the performances as miracles unparalleled since the 
dawn of creation." 

After a stay of one day at JS'ganye's abode, the caravan 
moved on its way southward, Aboo Sammat's intention now 
being to go entirely across the Niam-Niam country to the 
lands of the Monbuttoo, with whose king, Munza, he was 
acquainted. The region through which they passed day after 
day was beautiful in the extreme and very fertile, and on every 
side were indications of a numerous and industrious population. 
Everything testified to the fruitfulness of the soil. Sweet 



SCHWEINFURTH. 439 

potatoes, yams, and manioc were piled np in heaps, and the 
hungry bearers fell upon them as though they were in a hostile 
country, the immediate neighborliood of every encampment re- 
sembling a scene of rapine and plunder. 

The arrangements of the Niam-Niam huts are much the 
same throughout the land. Two, or at most three, families 
reside close together. Generally from eight to twelve huts are 
clustered round one common open space, which is kept per- 
fectly clean, and in the centre of which is reared a post upon 
which the trophies of the chase are hung. Skulls of the rarest 
kind, splendid horns of antelopes and buffaloes, are attached to 
this standard, and, it mutit be added, skulls of men and withered 
hands and feet ! Close in the rear of the huts, upon the level 
ground, were tlie magazines for corn ; behind these would be 
seen a circle < f rokko fig-trees, the bark of which is used for 
clothing. Farther in the background might be noticed a per- 
fect enclosure of paradise-figs ; then in wider circumference 
the plantations of manioc and maize ; and, lastly, the outlj^ing 
fields of eleusine, extending to the compound next beyond. 

To the above-mentioned practice of hanging their trophies 
on posts near their huts, Schweinfurth was indebted for many 
additions to his osteological collection. And at Diamvonoo, in 
securing some skulls of the chimpanzee (which are killed in great 
numbers in the neighborhood), he came upon convincing proof 
of the cannibalism of the natives. Close to the huts, amongst 
the piles of refuse, were human bones, which bore unmistaka- 
ble evidence of having been subjected to the hatchet or the 
knife ; and all around upon the branches of the neighboring 
trees Avere hanging human feet and hands more than half shriv- 
elled into a skeleton condition, but being as yet only partially 
dry, they polluted the atmosphere with a revolting and intolera- 
ble stench. 

On the 6th of February they crossed the river Sway, which 
Schweinfurth was the first to identify as the upper course of 
the Dyoor; and on March 2d, after having crossed numerous 
streams whose apparently eccentric direction puzzled him, he 
made the startling discovery that he was on the watershed of 
the Nile^ the first European coming from the north that had 
ever yet traversed it. In March 20th, after a journey that had 
lasted nearly two months, the latter part of the time through 
the hostile district of the chief Wando, they reached the river 
Welle on the southern boundary of the Niam-Niam country. 
As he had expected, Schweinfurth found that this river flows 
west ; and he adduces nearly conclusive reasons foi regarding it 



440 SCEWEINFTTRTK 

as the upper course of the Shary, which flows into Lake Tsad. 
It rises in the mountains, just west of the Albert Nyanza. 

The Welle was crossed in Monbuttoo boats, and next day the 
caravan entered Munza's capital, truly in "the heart of 
Africa." 

'" Nothing could be more charming than that last day's march 
which brought us to the limits of our wanderings. The 12 
miles which led to Munza's palace were miles enriched by 
such beauty as might be worthy of paradise. They left an im- 
pression upon my memory that can never fade. The plantain- 
groves harmonized so perfectly with the clustering oil-palms 
that nothing could surpass the perfection of the scene ; whilst 
tlie ferns that adorned the countless stems in the background of 
the landscape enhanced the charms of the tropical groves. A 
fresh and invigorating atmosphere contributed to the enjoy- 
ment of it all, refreshing water and grateful shade being never 
far away. In front of the native dwellings towered the splen- 
did figs, of which the spreading crowns defied the passage of 
the burning sun. Anon we passed amidst jungles of Kapliia, 
alongside brooks crammed full of reeds, or through galleries 
where the Pandanus thrived, the road taking us up-hill and 
down-hill in alternate undulation. On either hand there was 
an almost unbroken series of the idyllic homes of the people, 
who hurried to 'their gates, and offered us the choicest products 
of their happy clime. . . . 

" And then, at last, conspicuous amidst the massy depths of 
green we espied the palace of the king. We had reached a 
broad valley, circled by plantations, and shaded by some gigan- 
tic trees which had survived the decay of the ancient wilder- 
ness ; through the lowest part meandered a transparent brook. 
We did not descend into the hollow, but halting on the hither 
side, we chose a station clear of trees, and proceeded without 
delay to fix our camp. We enjoyed a view in front of a slop- 
ing area, void of grass, enlivened with an endless multiplicity o£ 
huts, of which the roofs of some were like ordinary sheds, and 
those of others of a conical form ; but there, surmounting all, 
with extensive courts broad and imposing, unlike anything we 
had seen since we left the edifices of Cairo, upreared itself the 
spacious pile of King Munza's dwelling." 

In less than an hour the encampment was reared, and 
Schweinfurth was once more at rest in a hospitable seriba. 

Aboo Sammat was on intimate terms with King Munza — 
the two had mutually pledged their friendship in their blood 
and called each other by the name of brother — and immedi- 



SVEWEINFURTH, 44I 

fitely paid the king a long visit ; but Schweinf iirtli was not 
introduced till next day. 

" Tlie 22d of March, 1870, was the memorable date on which 
my introduction to the king occurred. On leaving my tent, 
my attention was immediately attracted to the opposite slopes, 
and a glance at the wide space between the king's palace and 
the houses of his retinue was sufficient to assure me that un- 
usual animation prevailed. Crowds of swarthy negroes were 
surging along in groups, and ever and anon the wild tones of 
the kettle-drum could be heard even where I was standing. 
Somewhat impatiently I stood awaiting my summons to the 
king, but it was already noon before I was informed that all 
arrangements were complete, and that I was at liberty to start. 
Aboo Sammat's black body-guard was sent to escort me, and 
his trumpeters had orders to usher me into the royal presence 
with a flourish of the Turkish reveille. For the occasion I had 
donned my solemn suit of black. With all the solemnity I 
could, I marched along ; three black squires bore my rifles and 
revolvers, followed by a fourth with my inevitable cane-chair. 
Next in order, and in awe-struck silence, came my Nubian 
servants, clad in festive garments of unspotted whiteness, and 
bearmg in their hand the offerings that had been so long and 
carefully reserved for his Monbuttoo majesty. . . . As we ap- 
proached the huts, the drums and trumpets were sounded to their 
fullest powers, and the crowds of people pressing forward on 
either hand left but a narrow passage for our procession. We 
bent our steps to one of the largest huts, which formed a kind 
of palatial hall open like a shed at both ends. Waiting ray 
arrival here was one of the officers of state, who acted as master 
of ceremonies. This official took me by the right hand, and, 
without a word, conducted me to the interior of the hall. Here, 
like the audience at a 'concert, were arranged according to 
their rank hundreds of nobles and courtiers, each occupying 
bis own ornamental bench and decked out with all his war 
equipment. At the other end of the building a space was left 
for the royal throne, which differed in no respect from the other 
benches, except that it stood upon an outspread mat ; behind 
this bench was placed a large support of singular construction, 
resting as it seemed upon three legs, and furnished with pro- 
jections that served as props for the back and arms of the sit- 
ter ; this support was thickly studded with copper rings and 
nails. I requested that my own chair might be placed a few 
paces from the royal bench, and there I took my position, with 



m 



SCEWEmFURTH. 443 

and kept order among the mob, making free use of their sticks 
whenever it was necessary ; all boys who ventured uninvited 
into the hall being beaten back as trespassers." 

At length there was a running to and fro of heralds, mar- 
shals, and police. The thronging masses flock toward the en- 
traTice, and silence is proclaimed. The king is close at hand. 
" Then come the trumpeters flourishing away on their huge 
ivory horns ; then the ringers swinging their cumbrous bells ; 
and now, with a long, firm stride, looking neitlier to the right 
nor to the left, wild, romantic, picturesque alike in mien and 
attire, comes the tawny Caesar himself ! lie was followed by 
fift}^ of his favorite wives. Without vouchsafing me a glance, 
he flung himself upon his unpretending chair of state, and sat 
with his eyes fixed upon his feet. ... I could now feast my 
eyes upon the fantastic figure of the ruler. I was intensely 
interested in gazing upon the sovereign of whom it was com- 
monly reported that his daily food was human flesh. With 
arras and legs, neck and breast, all bedizened with copper rings, 
chains, and other strange devices, and with a great copper cres- 
cent at the top of his head, the potentate gleamed with a shim- 
mer that was to our ideas unworthy of royalty, but savored too 
much of the magazines of civic opulence, reminding one almost 
unavoidably of a well-kept kitchen ! His appearance, however, 
was decidedly marked with his nationality, for eveiy adorn- 
ment that he had about him belonged exclusively to Central 
Africa, as none but the fabrications of his native land are 
deemed worthy of adorning the person of a king of the Mon- 
buttoo. Agreeably to the national fashion, a plumed hat rested 
on the top of his chignon, and soared a foot and a half above 
his head ; this hat was a narrow cylinder of closely plaited 
reeds; it was ornamented with three la^^ers of i-ed parrots' 
feathers, and crowned with a plnme of the same ; there was 
no brim, but the copper crescent projected from the front like 
the vizor of a Norman helmet. The muscles of Munza's ears 
were pierced, and copper bars as thick as the finger inserted in 
the cavities. The entire body was smeared with the native 
unguent of powdered cam-wood, which converted the original 
bright brown tint of the skin into the color that is so conspic- 
uous on ancient Pompeian halls. With the exception of being 
of an unusually fine texture, his single garment differed in no 
respect from what was worn throughout the country ; it con- 
sisted of a large piece of fig-bark impregnated witii the same 
dye that served as his cosmetic, and tJiis, falling in graceful 
folds about his bodv, formed breeches and waistcoat all in :>no. 



444 SCHWEINFURTH. 

Eound thongs of bnffalo-hide, with heavy copper balls attached 
to the ends, were fastened round the waist in a liuge knot, and 
like a girdle held the coat, which was neatly hemmed. . . . 
Around the king's neck hung a copper ornament made in little 
points which radiated like beams all over his chest; on his bare 
arms were strange-looking pendants which in shape could only 
be compared to drum-sticks with rings at the end. Half-way up 
the lower part of the arms and just below the knee were three 
bright, horny-looking circlets cut out of hippopotamus-hide, 
likewise tipped with copper. As a symbol of his dignity Mun- 
za wielded in his right hand the sickle-shaped Monbuttoo 
sciraetar, in this case only an ornamental weapon, and made of 
pure copper." 

Munza was a man about 40 years of age, of a fair height, 
of a slim but powerful build, and, like \\\q rest of his country- 
men, stiff and erect in figure. His features were far from pre- 
possessing, but had a l^ero-like expression that told of cruelty, 
ennui, and satiety. As soon as he had taken his seat, two little 
tables, beautifully carved, were placed on either side of the 
throne, and on these stood the dainties of which he continually 
partook, but which were carefully concealed by napkins of fig- 
bark ; in addition to these tables, some really artistic flasks of 
porous clay were brought in full of drinking-water. A con- 
siderable time elapsed before the king looked directly at the 
pale-faced man with the long hair and the tight black clothes, 
"who now for the first time appeared before him. The wild 
uproar of the courtiers still continued, and Manza, sitting in a 
careless attitude, only raised his eyes now and then from their 
fixed stare upon the ground as though to scan the whole as- 
semblage, but in reality to take stray glances at the stranger's 
person, and in this way, little by little, he satisfied his curios- 
ity. *' I could not help marvelling at the composure of this 
wild African, and wondering where in the world he could have 
•learned his dignity and self-possession." At length the mon- 
.arch began to ask some questions ; but as every sentence had 
to be translated into the Zandey dialect and then into Arabic, 
the conversation was necessarily brief and commonplace. At 
the close, Schweinfurth's servants brought forth the presents he 
liad brought and laid them at the king's feet. Munza regarded 
them with great attention, but without committing himself to 
any audible expression of approval ; but his fifty wives, who were 
seated on stools arranged behind his throne, gave vent to shouts 
;of delight as a double mirror, which both magnified and reduced 
what it reflected, was passed admiringly from hand to hand. 



SCHWEINFURTH. 445 

"The performances that liad been prepared for our entertain- 
ment now commenced. First of all a couple of horn-blowers 
stepped forward, and proceeded to execute solos upon tlieir in- 
struments. These men were advanced proficients in their art, 
and brough fortli sounds of such power, compass, and flexibil- 
ity that they could be modulated from sounds lilce the roar of 
a hungry lion, or the trumpeting of an infuriated elephant, 
down to tones which might be compared to the sighing of tlie 
breeze or to a lover's whisper. . . . ISText appeared a number 
of professional singers and jesters, and amongst them a little 
plump fellow, who acted the part of a pantomime clown, and 
jumped about and turned somersaults till his limbs looked like 
the arms of a windmill ; he was covered from head to foot 
with bushy tufts and pigtails, and altogether his appearance 
was so excessively ludicrous that, to the inward delight of the 
king, I burst into a hearty fit of laughter. . . . His jokes and 
pranks seemed never-ending, and he was permitted to take lib- 
erties with every one, not even excepting Munza himself. . . . 
The next episode consisted of the performances of a eiiiluch, 
who formed a butt for the wit of the spectators. How Munza 
had come into possession of this creature no one seemed to 
know, and I could only learn that he was employed in tlie 
inner parts of the palace. . . . But the most important part 
of the programme was reserved for the end : Munza was to 
make an oration. Whilst all the audience remained quietly 
seated on their stools and benches, up jumped the king, loosened 
his coat, cleared his throat, and commenced his harangue. 
Of course I could not understand a single w^ord ; but from 
what I could see and hear, it was evident that Munza endeav- 
ored to be choice and emphatic in his language, as not only 
did he often correct himself, but he made pauses after the sen- 
tences that he intended to be impressive, to allow for the ap- 
plause of his auditors. Then the shout of ' Ee, ee, tchuppy, 
tchuppy, ee, Munza, ee' resounded from every throat, and the 
musical instruments caught up the strain until the uproar was 
truly demoniacal. . . . The kettle-drums and horns now 
struck up a livelier and more rhythmical strain, and Munza as- 
sumed a new character and proceeded to beat time with all the 
solemnity of a conductor. His baton wsls something like a 
baby's rattle, and consisted of a hollow sphere of basket-work 
filled with pebbles and shells, and attached to a stick." When 
the music ceased, Schweinfurth took his leave just as Munza 
had commenced a new oration. 

On a subsequent occasion he was -present at an entertain- 



446 



SGHWEmFURTE. 



ment in celebration of a victory which one of Mnnza's cap- 
tains had obtained over a neighboring tribe ; and we reproduce 
his account here to complete the picture of the barbaric 
splendor of this Central African court : — " The early part of the 
day was cold and rainy ; but quite betimes, the shouts and 
cheers that rang around the camp told us that the rejoicing 
had already begun. Towards mid-day, news was brought that 
the excitement was reaching its climax, and that the King 
himself was dancing in the presence of his numerous wives 
and courtiers. Putting on a long black frock-coat as the most 
appropriate costume for the occasion, I bent my steps to the 
noble saloon, which resounded again with the ringing echoes 
of uproarious cheers and clanging music. The scene that 
awaited me was unique. Within the hall there was a spa- 
cious square left free, around which the lifty royal wives wei^ 
seated, in a single row on their little stools, having painted 
themselves in honor of the occasion with the most elaborate 
care; they were applauding most vigorously, clapping their 
hands with all their might. Behind the women stood an array 
of warriors in full accoutrement, and their lines of lances were 
a frontier of defence. Every musical accompaniment to which 
the resources of the court could reach had all been summoned, 
and there was a melee of gongs and kettle-drums, timbrels and 
trumpets, horns and bells. Dancing there in the midst of all, 
a wondrous sight, was the King himself. . . . His dancing 
was furious. His arms dashed themselves furiously in every 
direction, though always marking the time of the music ; 
whilst his legs exhibited all the contortion of an acrobat's, 
being at one moment stretched out horizontally to the ground, 
and at the next pointed upwards and elevated in the air. The 
music ran on in a wild and monotonous strain, and the women 
raised their hands and clapped together their open palms to 
mark the time. For what length of time this dance had been 
going on I did not quite understand ; I only know that I found 
Munza raving in the hall with all the mad excitement of the 
.most infatuated dervish that had ever been seen in Cairo. 
Moment after moment it seemed as if the enthusiast must 
staggei*, and, foaming at' the mouth, fall down in a lit of 
epilepsy ; but nervous energj^ seems greater in Central Africa 
than among the ' hashishit ' of the north : a slight pause at the 
end of half an hour, and all his strength revived ; once again 
would commence the dance, and continue unslackened and 
unwearied." An end was finally put to it by the sudden 
coming on of a tropical storm. 



BCHWEINFURTH. 447 

Schweinfurth began immediately, with his customary ar- 
dor, the study of the habits and customs of the Monbut- 
too, measuring their bodies, watching their daily life, and 
buying specimens of tlieir weapons, handicraft, ornaments, 
tools, etc., not excepting the human skulls that remained over 
from their meals. And if he felt an interest in them, their 
curiosity about him was not less eager. Daj^ after day crowds 
besieged his tent, of whom many brought their benches, and 
ranged them in rows before the opening, watching in silent 
eagerness his every movement. At length he was obliged to 
encircle his tent with a thorn-hedge in order to keep out the 
inquisitive natives, and, this failing, he fired some trains of gun- 
powder, and even touched off a few shells, in the hope of 
scaring them away. This being ineffectual also, he appealed 
to Aboo Saramat, who assigned him a guard of soldiers. " Bat 
even this scheme only partially succeeded ; it answered very 
well as long as I kept within the bounds of my asylum, but I 
had only to venture beyond, and I found my retinue as large 
as ever. The majority of those who harassed me in this way 
Avere women, who, by keeping up with me step by step, 
thoroughly baffled me in all my attempts to botanize; and if 
perchance I managed to get away into the wood, they would 
find me out and trample down the rare flowers Ihad laboriously 
collected, till I was almost driven to despair. When thus es- 
corted by about a hundred women I was marching down to 
the streams in the depths of the valley, I miglit indulge the 
fancy that I was at the head of a triumphal procession, and as 
often as our path led through villages and farms the members 
in the train were prodigiously swollen." This annoyance was 
continued during the whole of his stay, and he could not steal 
off' into the depths of the woods even to bathe without discover- 
ing that curious eyes were spying out his privacy. 

From the foregoing description of their court and court cere- 
monies it will already have been perceived that the Monbuttoo 
are far above the level of the ordinary savage tribes of the in- 
terior; and in point of fact Schweinfurth shows that they 
have reached a plane which makes it marvellous that they have 
not risen still higher in the social scale. From the time he 
first reached the district of the Gazelle he had heard of this 
people as holding a peculiar and prominent place ; but no 
white traveller had ever before penetrated to their land, which 
lies between the parallels of 3° and 4° north latitude, and 28° 
and 29° east longitude from Greenwich. It does not cover an 
area of more than 4,000 square miles, but the population is very 



448 SGHWEINFUBTB. 

dense, and Schweinfurth estimates it to be not less than a 
million. The country of the Niam-Niam constitutes the north- 
ern and north-western boundaries of the Monbuttoo, and is 
separated from it by the river Keebaly, which is one of the 
source streams of the Welle. The government is powerful and 
highly centralized. Besides the King, sub-chieftains or 
viceroys are distributed over various sections of the country, and 
these are accustomed to surround themselves with a retinue 
and state little inferior to that of the king himself. Besides 
tiiese there are several tributary tribes lying to the south and 
south-east. The Monbuttoo land is a veritable Eden upon 
earth, resembling the description which Speke has given of 
Uganda. " Unnumbered groves of plantations bedeck the 
gently -heaving soil; oil-palms, incomparable in beautj^, and 
other monarchs of the stately woods, rise up and spread their 
glory over the favored scene ; along the streams there is a 
bright expanse of charming verdure, whilst a grateful shadow 
ever overhangs the domes of the idyllic huts." Notwith- 
standing the fruitfulness of the soil, however, no cereals are 
grown, and agriculture is confined to the cultivation of sesame, 
cassava, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, and especially tobacco. 
Plantain is the staple food and grows in marvellous abundance. 
Every kind of cattle-breeding is quite unknown to them, and 
with the exception of dogs (considered a great delicacy) and 
poultry, the Monbuttoo have no domestic animals at all. From 
the marauding excursions with which they harass their southern 
neighbors they bring back a prodigious number of goats, but 
they make no attempt to rear them for themselves. Their 
hunting expeditions supply them with meat enough for their 
requirements, their taste leading them to give the preference 
to elephants, buffaloes, wild-boars, and the larger kinds of an- 
telopes. 

While the women attend to the tillage of the soil and the 
gathering of the harvest, the men, except they be absent for 
war or hunting, spend the entire day in idleness, gossiping, and 
smoking their pipes. Smiths work, of course, is done by the 
men, and although their instruments are as primitive as those 
of the Bongo, their lances, spades, chains, etc., are wonderful 
specimens of manipulative skill. The pottery is made exclu- 
sively by the women. Wood-carving (which is carried to great 
perfection) and basket-weaving are performed indifferently by 
either sex. Musical instruments are not touched by the women. 
The universal form of salutation consists of holding out the 
right hand and saying "Gassiggy," and at the same time 



SCHWETNFURTH, 449 

cracking the joints of the middle fingers. The two sexes con- 
duct themselves towards each other with an excessive freedom, 
the women being beyond measure obtrusive and familiar. 
Polygamy is unlimited, but fidelity to the marriage obligations 
on the part of the wives seems to be but little known. To- 
wards their husbands, indeed, they exhibit the highest degree 
of independence ; the position of the men in the household is 
illustrated by their reply to every request to sell anything as a 
curiosity, " Oh ! ask my wife : it is hers." Circumcision is 
practised, but the operation is not performed till the age of 
puberty. 

The complexion of the Monbuttoo is of a lighter tint than 
that of any known native of Central Africa ; and another char- 
acteristic quite peculiar to them is that a considei-able percent- 
age of the population have light hair. " This combination of 
light hair and skin gives to the Monbuttoo a position distinct 
from all the natives of the Northern part of Africa, with the 
single exception of the inhabitants of Morocco, amongst whom 
fair-haired individuals are far from uncommon." The art of 
weaving is unknown to the Monbuttoo, and their only material 
for clothing is the bark of the rokko fig-tree. By a partial 
maceration and a good deal of thrashing, they contrive to give 
the bark the appearance of a thick, close fabric, which in its 
rough condition is of a gray color, but after being soaked in a 
decoction of wood acquires a reddish-brown hue, something 
like ordinary woollen stuff. Fastened at the waist with a girdle, 
one of these pieces of bark is sufficient to clothe the body, from 
the breast downward to the knees, with a very effective substi- 
tute for drapery. The women, however, go almost entirely 
naked ; they wear nothing but a piece of plantain-leaf or bark 
about the size of the hand attached to the front of their girdle, 
the rest of the body being figured in elaborate patterns by 
means of a black gum obtained from a plant. Whenever they 
go out, they carry acr6ss their arm a strap which they lay across 
their laps on sitting down. The straps or scarfs are about a 
foot wide, and as they form their first attempt at weaving, their 
texture is of the clumsiest order ; they are appropriated to the 
further use of fastening infants to their mothers' back. At the 
great festivals, every Monbuttoo lady endeavors to outshine her 
compeers, and accordingly paints her entire body in an almost 
inexhaiistible variety of patterns. The patterns last about two 
days, when they are carefully rubbed off and replaced b^'' new 
designs. Instead of this paint the men use a cosmetic prepared 
from pulverized cam-wood, which is mixed with fat and rubbed 
?.9 



450 SCHWEINFURTK, 

over the whole body. The coiffure of both sexes is alike ; tlie 
hair of the top and back of the head is mounted up into a long' 
cylindrical chignon, and being fastened on the inside with 
reeds, slopes backward in a slanting direction. On the top of 
their chignons the men wear cylindrical straw hats adorned 
with feathers, which follow the slanting direction of the chig- 
nons ; but the women wear no hats, decorating their chignons 
with little hair-pins attached to combs made of porcupine quills. 
Carved benches are the ordinary seats of the men, but the 
women use stools that have but one foot. When paying a visit 
or going to a public gathering the men make their slaves carry 
their benches for them, as it is their custom never to sit upon 
the ground, not even when it is covered with mats. 

The care given by the Monbuttoo to the preparation of their 
food betokens their higher grade of culture. For spices they 
make use of the capsicum, the Malaghetta pepper, and the fruit 
of two hitherto unspecified Solanese ; and mushrooms are in 
common use for the preparation of their sauces. All their 
food is prepared by the admixture of oil from the oil-palms ; 
and from the fat thick bodies of the male white ants they boil 
out a greasy substance which is bright and transparent, and has 
^ taste perfectly unobjectionable. 

" But of most universal employment among them is human 
fat, and this brings our observations to the climax of their culi- 
mary practices. The cannibalism of the Monbuttoo is the most 
^prominent of all known natives of Africa. Surrounded as they 
are by a number of tribes who are blacker than themselves, and 
consequently held in great contempt, they have just the oppor- 
tunity which they want for carrying on their expeditions of war 
and plunder, which result in the acquisition of a booty which is 
especially coveted by them, consisting of human flesh. The 
-carcasses of all who fall in battle are distributed upon the battle- 
field, and are prepared, by drying, for transportation to the 
.homes of the conquerors. They drive their prisoners before 
tthem, without remorse, as butchers would drive sheep to the 
shambles, and these are only reserved to fall victims on a later 
<day to their terrible and sickening greediness. ... The 
numerous skulls now in the Anatomical Museum in Berlin are 
dimply the remains of their repasts which I purchased one after 
another for bits of copper, and go far to prove that the can^ 
^ibalism of the Monbuttoo is unsurpassed by any nation in the 
world. But w4th it all, the Monbuttoo are a noble race of 
men ; men who display a certain natural pride, and are endowed 
with an intellect and judgment such as few natives of the 



SVffWEISFUBTM. 451 

African wilderness can boast ; men to whom one may put a 
reasonable question, and who will return a reasonable answer.'^ 
It was during his stay in Monbuttoo-land that Schweinfurtli 
made the discovery which has rendered him famous : solved tlie 
I riy th of two thousand years, and obtained positive proof of the 
existence of 

The Pygmies. 

As early as during his journey up the Nile from Khartoom 
he had heard the Nubian people gossiping about these " people 
of immortal myth," and throughout his stay in the Seribas of 
the Bongo territory he was continually hearing stories which 
seemed to localize their home as far to the south of the Niam- 
Niam. The rumors grew in definiteness as he penetrated 
farther and farther to the southward, and now at the court of 
Munza the positive evidence was submitted to his eyes. 

" Several days elapsed after taking up my residence by the 
palace of the Monbuttoo king without my having a chance 
to get a view of the dwarfs, whose fame had so keenly excited 
my curiosity. My people, however, assured me that they had 
seen them. I remonstrated with them for not having secured 
me an opportunity of seeing for myself, and for not bringing 
them into contact with me. I obtained no other reply but that 
the dwarfs were too timid to come. After a few mornings my 
attention was arrested by a shouting in the camp, and I learned 
that Aboo Sammat had surprised one of the Pygmies in attend- 
ance upon the king, and was conveying him, in spite of his 
strenuous resistance, straight to my tent. I looked up, and 
there, sure enough, was the strange little creature, perched 
upon Aboo Sammat's right shoulder, nervously hugging his 
head, and .casting glances of alarm in every direction. Aboo 
Sammat soon deposited him in the seat of honor. A royal in- 
terpreter was stationed at his side. Eagerly, and without loss 
of time, I proceeded to take his portrait. I pressed him with 
innumerable questions, but to ask for information was an easier 
matter altogether than to get an answer. There was the greatest 
difficulty in inducing him to remain at rest, and I could only 
succeed by exhibiting a store of presents. Under the impres- 
sion that the opportunity might not occur again, I bribed the 
interpreter to exercise his influence to pacify the little man, and 
to induce him to lay aside any fear of me that he might enter- 
tain. Altogether we succeeded so well that in a couple of 
hours the Pygmy had been measured, sketched, feasted, pre- 



a i 
u i 
a i 



452 8CHWEINFUBTH. 

sented with a variety of gifts, and subjected to a n)ini;te cate- 
chism of searching questions. 

"His name was Adimokoo. He was the head of a small 
colony which was located about half a league from the royal 
residence. With his own lips I heard him assert that the 
name of his nation was Akka, and 1 learnt further that they 
inhabit large districts to the south of the Monbuttoo, between 
lat. 2° and 1° N. A portion of them are subject to the Monbut- 
too king, who, desirous of enhancing the splendor of his court 
by any available natural curiosities, had compelled several 
families of the Pygmies to settle in the vicinity. . . . 

" In reply to my question put to Adimokoo as to where his 
country was situated, pointing toward the S. S. E., lie said, 
' Two days' journey and you come to the village of Mummery ; 
on the third day you will reach the river Nalobe ; the fourth 
day you arrive at the "first of the village of the Akka.' 

" ' What do you call the rivers of your country ? ' 

They are the Nalobe, the Namerikoo, and the Eddoopa.' 
Have you any rivers as large as the Welle ? ' 
No; ours are small rivers, and they all flow into the 
Welle.' 

" ' Are you all one people, or are you divided into separate 
tribes ? ' 

" To this inquiry Adimokoo replied by a sudden gesture, as 
if to indicate the vastness of their extent, and commenced 
enumerating the tribes one after anotlier. ' There are the 
Navapukah, the Navatipeh, the Yabingisso, the Avazubeh, the 
Avagowumba, the Bandoa, the Mamomoo, and the Aga- 
bundah.' 

" ' How many kings ? ' I asked. 

" ' Nine,' he said ; but I could only make out the names of 
Galeema, Beddeh, Tindaga, and Mazembi. 

" My next endeavor was directed to discover whether he 
was acquainted in any way with the dwarf races that have 
been mentioned by previous travellers, and whose homes I 
presumed would be somewhere in this part of Africa. . . . My 
question, however, only elicited a comical gesture of bewilder- 
ment and a vague inquiry, ' What is that ? ' Equally unavailing 
were all my enorts to obtain answers of any precision to the 
series of questions which I invented, taking my hints from 
Petermann and Hassenstein's map of Central Africa, so that I 
was obliged to give up my geographical inquiries in despair 
and turn to other topics. But in reality there did not occur 
any subject whatever on which I obtained any information 



» &CHWEINFURTH. 453 

worth recording. At length, after having submitted so long to 
my curious and persistent questionings, the patience of Adi- 
mokoo was thoroughly exhausted, and he made a frantic leap in 
liis endeavor to escape from the tent. Surrounded, however, 
by an inquisitive crowd of Bongo and Nubians, he was unable 
to effect liis purpose, and was compelled, against his will, to 
remain a little longer. After a time a gentle persuasion 
was brought to bear, and he was induced to go through 
some of the characteristic evolutions of his war-dances. He 
was dressed, like the Monbuttoo, in a rokko coat and plumed 
hat, and was armed with a miniature lance as well as with 
a bow and arrow. His length 1 found to be 4 feet 10 inches, 
and this I reckon to be the average measurement of hit, 
race; 

" Although I had repeatedly been astonished by witnessing 
the war-dances of the Niam-Isiam, I confess that my amaze- 
ment was greater than ever when I looked upon the exhibition 
which the Pygmy afforded. In spite of his huge, bloated 
belly and short, bandy legs — in spite of his age, which, by the 
way, was considerable — Adimokoo's agility was perfectly 
marvellous, and I could not help wondering whether cranes 
would ever be likely to contend with such creatures. Tlie 
little man's leaps and attitudes were accompanied by such 
lively and grotesque varieties of expression that the spectators 
shook again and held their sides with laughter. The interpreter 
explained that the Akka jump about in the grass like grasshop- 
pers, and that they are so nimble that the}^ shoot their arrows 
into an elephant's eye and drive their lances into their bel- 
lies. ... 

"Adimokoo returned home laden with presents. I made 
him understand that I should be glad to see all his people, and 
promised that the}^ would lose nothing by coming. On the 
following day I had the pleasure of a visit from two of the 
younger men. I had an opportunity of sketching their like- 
nesses, and the portrait of one of them is inserted here. After 
they had once gotten over their alarm, some or other of the 
Akka came to me almost every day. As exceptional cases, I 
observed that some individuals were of a taller stature ; but 
upon investigation I always ascertained that this was the result 
of intermarriage with the Monbuttoo amongst whom they re- 
sided. My sudden departure from Munza's abode interrupted 
me completely in my study of this interesting people, and 1 
was compelled to leave before I had fully mastered the details 
of their peculiarities. I regret that I never chanced to see one 



^54 



SCEWEmFUETH. 



of the Akka women, and still more that my visit to their dwell- 
ings was postponed from day to day until the opportunity was 
lost altogether. 

"^ I am not likely to forget a reriGontre which I had with 

several hundred Akka war- 
riors, and could very heart- 
ily wish that the circum- 
stances had permitted me 
to give a pictorial repre- 
sentation of the scene. 
King Munza's brother, 
Mummery, who was a kind 
of viceroy in the southern 
sections of his dominions, 
and to whom the Akka 
were tributary, was just re- 
turning to the court from 
a successful campaign 
against the black Momvoo. 
Accompanied by a large 
band of soldiers, amongst 
whom was included a corps 
of Pygmies, he was convey- 
ing the bulk of the booty 
to his royal master. It 
happened on the day in 
question that I had been 
making a long excursion 
with my Niam-Niam serv- 
ants, and had heard nothing 
of Mummery's arrival. To- 
ward sunset I was passing 
along tlie extensive village 
on my return to my quar- 
ters, when, just as I readied 
the wide, open space in 
front of the royal halls, I found myself surrounded by what I 
conjectured must be a crowd of impudent boys, who received 
me with a sort of bravado fight. They pointed their arrows 
towards me, and behaved generally in a manner at which 1 
could not help feeling somewhat irritated, as it betokened un- 
warrantable liberty and intentional disrespect. My misappre- 
hension was soon corrected by the Niam-Niam people about 




BOMBY THE AKKA. 



SCHWEINFUBTH. 455 

me. ^They are Tikkitikki/ * said they; 'you imagine that 
they are boys, but in truth they are men ; nay, men that can 
fight.' At this moment a seasonable greeting from Mummery 
drew me off from any apprehension on my part, and from 
any further contemplation of the remarkable spectacle before 
me. In my own mind I resolved that I would minutely 
inspect the camp of the new-comers on the following morning; 
but I had reckoned without my host : before dawn Mnmmery 
and his contingent of Pygmies had taken their departure, and 
thus, 

* Like the baseless fabric of a vision,* 

this people, so near and yet so unattainable, had vanished once 
more into the dim obscurity of the innermost continent." 

Schweinfurth came into possession of one of these Akka, in 
a rather curious way. He had brought with him two dogs of 
the common Bongo breed, but so much larger than the mean 
little curs of the Monbuttoo that they had awakened the cupid- 
ity of the king, who tried in every way to get possession of 
them, and finally sent a lot of male and female slaves to ex- 
change for them. The sight of these suggested a new idea to 
Schweinfurth, and he gave the king one of the dogs in exchange 
for a little Akka youth about fifteen years of age, hoping to be 
able to bring him to Europe. 

" I succeeded tolerably well in alleviating the pain of the 
lad's parting from all his old associations; the pain came not 
from any reluctance to part from his kinsfolk, but from fear 
that the white man intended to eat him up by providing him 
with all the good living and bestowing upon him all the atten- 
tion that lay in my power. To reconcile him to his lot, I broke 
through an old rule. I allowed him to be my constant com- 
panion at my meals — an exception that I never made in favor 
of any other native of Africa. Making it my first care that he 
should be happy and contented, I submitted without a murmur 
to all the uncouth habits peculiar to his race. In Khartoom at 
last I dressed him up till he looked like a little pasha. ... I 
am sorry to record that notwithstanding all my assiduity and 
attention, Nsewne died in Berber, from a prolonged attack of 
dysentery, originating not so much in any change of climate or 
alteration of his mode of living, as in his immoderate excess in 
eating, a propensity which no influence on my part was suflS- 
cient to control. During the last ten months of his life, my 

* TikkitikM is the Niam-Niam designation of the Akka. 



456 8GHWEINFUBTH. 

protege did not make any growth at all. I think I may there- 
fore presume that his height would never have exceeded four 
feet seven inches, which was his measurement at the time of his 
death." 

After careful analysis of his own notes, and examination of 
the writings of other African explorers, Dr. Schweinfurth con 
eludes that the Akka are a branch of a series of dwarf races 
which extend along the equator entirely across Africa, and 
may be considered as the scattered remains of an aboriginal 
population now becoming extinct. 

In a fortnight or so, Aboo Sammat became aware that he had 
got to the end of Munza's store of ivory, and both he and 
Schweinfurth entertained a very strong desire to push on still 
farther to the south. This desire, however, met with the de- 
cided opposition of the king, who naturally felt that the further 
progress of the Khartoomers would interfere with his monopoly 
of the ivory and copper traffic ; and as nothing could be done 
without his co-ope;'ation, the plan had to be abandoned. To 
Schweinfurth the disappointment was very keen. At the posi- 
sion at which he had now arrived, he was actually not more 
than 400 miles from Livingstone's highest known terminus, 
and was almost in sight of the hills bounding the Mwootan, or 
Albert N'Yanza Lake. The solution of the Nile question 
seemed absolutely within his grasp, and to turn back now was 
a bitter grief, to which it was hard to reconcile himself. He 
thinks that a different vista would have opened itself before 
him, if he had been one of those favored travellers who have 
unlimited command of gold. An expedition fitted out with the 
liberality of Speke's would have been capable of advancing 
from Munza's to the south defiant of opposition ; or, with 200 
Eoldiers from Khartoom, not liable to fever and capable of ex- 
isting upon food of any sort, any one could penetrate as far as 
he chose. A single traveller, moreover, inured to the climate 
and not inclined to fatness, could probably traverse the entire 
interior unmolested. He found all the tribes favorably disposed 
toward the white man. With even 10,000 dollars in his purse, 
he believes he could have accomplished his wishes ; but for the 
present lie had to reconcile himself to the fact that he had 
reached the limit of his southern journey, and that he must 
hasten back to the Seribas in Bongo-land, before the commence- 
ment of the rainy season. 

The camp was raised on the 12th of April, and the return 
journey, over the same route taken in going, was made without 



8CHWElNFURTn. 457 

?i\\y incident of special importance, except a fight -with the 
Niara-Niam in Wando's territory, in which Aboo Sammat was 
badly wounded.* The Seriba on the north border of the 
Niam-Niam country was reached on May 2d, and here Schwein- 
fiirth remained for several weeks, while Aboo Sammat went 
out to punish his enemies. Aboo Sammat's head Seriba, Sabby, 
w^as reached on July 3d, 1870, after an absence of 150 days. 

In his old head-quarters at Ghattas' Seriba, he found a new 
consignment of supplies which had been sent from Khartoom. 
He spent the next few months in arranging his botanical col- 
lection and systematizing his numerous notes; but chiefly in 
preparation for a second journey to the Niam-Niam country, 
which he had resolved to make at the end of the rainy season, 
in company with one of Ghattas' ivory expeditions. But this 
and all similar schemes were defeated by a most disastrous fire 
which in one fatal afternoon destroyed not only all his newly 
arrived supplies, but also all the produce of the recent journey, 
his botanical and entomological collections, and, most irrepara- 
ble of all, his journals and registers. From this time nothing 
could be seriously thought of but getting back to Europe, and 
the intervening time, before the departure of the boats from 
the Meshera, was spent in poverty and privation. 

Nothing, however, seemed to damp his ardor of exploration, 
and he spent the period of his enforced leisure in mapping out 
the district of the Upper Gazelle. Having lost his watches and 
pedometer in the fire, he actually counted all his steps (more 
than a million and a quarter) over one whole expedition that 
he might fully satisfy himself in regard to his distances. And 
when his ink failed, he drew and made his memoranda with 
chicken's blood. 

During these later travels he was brought into contact with 
the Egyptian troops sent by the Khedive to occupy the territory 
and put down the slave-trade ; and it must be confessed that 



* It may be worth while to note the remarkable symbolism by which war 
was declared by the natives. Close to the path, and in full view of every 
passenger, three objects were suspended from the branch of a tree ; viz., an 
ear of maize, the feather of a fowl, and an arrow. These emblems were de- 
signed to signify that whoever touched an ear of maize or laid his hands upon 
a single fowl would assuredly be the victim of the arrow. It is probable that 
superstition alone saved the expedition from total annihilation. Wando had 
an unpropitious augury (a fowl to which he had given a poisoned dose died) 
at the beginning of the fray, and, intimidated at the prospect, he withdrew 
into the recesses of the forest and left one of the smaller tribes to bear the 
brunt of the unequal conflict. 



458 SCHWEmFURTH. 

his account is not encouraging. True to the proverb that 
" Where a Turk has been no grass will grow," they are only 
depopulating the country and breaking up the Seribas by their 
extortions, without arresting the horrible traffic in slaves, which 
is not only winked at but actually encouraged by the leaders 
of the expeditionary forces. 

With respect to the question of the Nile, Schweinfurth, as 
we have said, crossed the western water-shed of that river, and 
having arrived at the region from which the Lualaba must 
come if it courses northward at all, he found the Welle, the 
Keebaly, and the Gadda, and all the minor streams flowing west- 
ward, and probably into the Shary. This proves the existence 
of a separate river-system, where Livingstone and Stanley 
thought there might be found the continuous channel of the 
Bahr-el-Ghazal. 

On the 2d of November, 1871, Schweinfurth found himself 
once again upon the soil of Europe, after an absence of 3 years 
and 4 months, during which he had penetrated regions hitherto 
blanks upon the map, and earned the right to be classed among 
the greatest of the explorers whose work has been outlined 
in the foregoing pages. 



CHAPTEK XIX. 

SIR BARTLE FRERE'S MISSION TO ZANZIBAR. 

It was iu 1789 that Mr. William Wilberforce first proposed, 
in the House of CommoDS, the abolition of the slave-trade ; but 
twenty long years of labor and struggle were consumed before 
his efforts were crowned with success. His bill was lost by a 
large majority. But he returned again and again to the attack, 
and the House of Commons, in 1794, for the first time passed 
a bill for the immediate abolition of the slave-trade ; but this 
was lost in the House of Lords. Still, Wilberforce persevered, 
amid many discouragements and repeated losses of his great 
measure, till finally, in 1807, the bill was passed which con- 
demned forever the trade in slaves. Twenty-six years after- 
wards the abolition of slaveryin all British dominions took place, 
and the example and influence of England soon secured from all 
European powers treaty-engagements by which trade in African 
slaves was declared to be piracy and punishable as such. Under 
these treaties the African squadron was maintained, and mixed 
courts instituted at various ports around the African coast, for 
adjudging all cases of capture or seizure of vessels engaged in 
the trade. By such means, the slave-trade of the west coast 
of Africa has become a thing of the past. 

But while this happy result is chronicled concerning the old 
Atlantic slave-trade — now for other reasons, and to the credit of 
strong principle, completely at an end — the annual reports of 
the British Consul at Zanzibar, and the despatches of the naval 
officers of the few vessels which form the East African squad- 
ron, tell a different tale. From these reports and despatches we 
obtain particulai^ of the trade in slaves carried on between the 
East African coast and ports on the Persian Gulf, the southern 
shores of Arabia, and the Red Sea. Dr. Livingstone bears 
testimony, speaking from personal observation, of the horrors 
and atrocities which accompany the slave-raids made to supply 
this trade ; and all other recent travellers corroborate his testi- 
mony. 

It was in the year 1822 that the attention of the British 
government was first especially called to the traffic in slaves 



4:60 sin BAETLE FREBE'S MlSSlOlSr TO ZANZIBAB. 

carried on nominallv between the African and Persian domin- 
ions of the Imauin of Muscat, but in reality between his African 
dominions and the very ports on the Red Sea and the Persian 
Gulf to which slaves have till now been conveyed. The domin- 
ions of the Imaum at that time comprised the petty state of Mus- 
cat on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, and a large portion 
of the African coast, extending from Cape Delgado, at about 
11° south latitude, to a port called Jubb, about 1° south of the 
equator, including the large and important islands of Zanzibar, 
Pemba, and Maiia. The British government, while declaring 
its intention of suppressing foreign slave-trading, refused to in- 
terfere with slavery as a domestic institution, and accordingly, 
in the case of the Imaum of Muscat, resolved to permit tJie 
slave-trade between port and port in his own dominions ; and a 
treaty to this effect was arranged between the English govern- 
ment and the Imaum. This treaty, dated lOth September, 1822, 
stipulates that the Imaiim will abolish the trade in slaves be- 
tween his dominions and every Christian country. By the treaty 
and a subsequent convention, authority to search and detain 
Muscatian vessels was given to British ships and the ships of war 
belonging to the East India Company ; and by a farther agree- 
ment, concluded between the Imaum of Muscat and the Queen 
of England, on the 2d of October, 1845, the Imaum agreed to 
prohibit, under the severest penalties, not only the. export of 
slaves from his African dominions, but also the importation of 
slaves from any part of Africa into his dominions in Asia. 
By that treaty permission is granted to English cruisers to seize 
and confiscate any vessels carrying on the slave-trade, except 
only such as are engaged in the transport of slaves from one 
port to another of the Imaum's African dominions. 

Upon the death of the grandfather of the present Imaum, 
his dominions were divided between his two sons, one retaining 
the Persian, and the other succeeding to the African territories, 
with the title of Sultan of Zanzibar. In consideration of the 
superior wealth and extent of the African dominions claimed 
by the Sultan of Zanzibar, it was ultimately agreed, after many 
disputes, that he should pay to his poorer brother, the Imaum, 
an annual subsidy of about $40,000. Subsequent events have 
shown that the particular source whence this subsidy was to be 
drawn was the royalty derived by the Sultan from the slave- 
trade, of which he had the keys. 

The northern slave-trade is carried on entirely by Arabs, and 
the chief points between which it is pursued are from the main- 
land opposite and to the south of Zanzibar, to the islands of 



SIR BARTLE FRERE'8 MISSION TO ZANZIBAR. 461 

Zanzibar and Pemba, and thence to the Red Sea and the Persian 
Gulf. The dhows used in the trade are rapid sailers before a 
wind, and carry as many as two hundred and lifty slaves. The 
liorrors of the capture, the land-journey, and the sea-passage are 
raost appalling. The port of Quiloa, or Kilwa, lies about one 
hundred and lifty miles south of the island of Zanzibar, and is 
the emporium, or great mainland mart, where thousands are ex- 
posed for sale, and whence they are shipped for Zanzibar. On 
their arrival at Zanzibar, the majority of the slaves pass into 
tlie slave-market. Many are at once consigned to their Arab 
purchasers, who have come down from Arabia with the north- 
erly monsoon, and have hired houses for the reception of their 
pur(;hases. For every slave thus brought to Zanzibar, the Sultan 
receives a royalty of two dollars, so that his interest has been 
engaged in the maintenance of the traffic. Dr. Livingstone 
says, under date the 11th of June, 1866, speaking of Zanzibar: 
'" This is now almost the only spot in the world where one 
liundred to three hundred slaves are daily exposed for sale in 
open market. This disgraceful scene I have several times 
personally witnessed, and the purchasers were Arabians or Per- 
sians, whose dhows lay anchored in the harbor, and these men 
were daily at their occupation examining the teeth, gait, and 
limbs of the slaves, as openly as horse-dealers engage in their 
business in England." In a letter dated Zanzibar, the 4tli of 
October, 1868, Mr. Consul Churchill states, that for the five years 
terminating September, 1867, there had been exported from 
Quiloa ninety-seven thousand two hundred and fifty-three reg- 
istered slaves. There had also been from three thousand to 
four thousand smuggled every ye£^ from various parts of the 
mainland ; so that the total amounts to about one hundred and 
fifteen thousand slaves, in ^yq years, who have reached the coast, 
and have been shipped for Zanzibar, Arabia, and other places. 
Dr. Livingstone again says : " Let it not be supposed for an 
instant, that those taken out of the country represent all the 
victims ; they are but a very small section of the sufferers. 
Besides those actually captured, thousands are killed and die of 
their vyounds aud famine, driven from the villages by the slave- 
raid ; thousands in internecine war waged for slaves with their 
Dwn clansmen and neighbors, slain by the lust of gain, which 
is stimulated b}^ the slave-purchasers. The many skeletons we 
have seen amongst rocks and woods, by the little pools, and along 
the paths of the wilderness, attest the awful sacrifice of human 
life which must be attributed, directly or indirectly, to this trade 
of hell. We would ask our countrymen to believe us when we 



462 Sin BARTLE FBERE'S MISSION TO ZANZIBAR. 

say, as we conscientiously can, that it is our deliberate opinion, 
from what we know and have seen, that not one-fifth of the 
victims of the slave-trade ever become slaves. Taking the 
Shire valley as an average, we should say not even one-tenth 
arrive at their destination." 

Within the last ten or twelve years more attention has been 
given by the British authorities to the subject ; and, in addition 
to the watch maintained by the small squadron, various measures 
have been urged upon the Sultan, the adoption of which, it was 
thought, would materially aid the efforts of the cruisers. Per- 
sons acquainted with the traffic give it as their opinion that the 
trade has suffered no perceptible check because of the protection 
afforded by the British ships over \hQ first and most difficult 
half of the sea-voyage, it being pretended by the dealers that 
these slaves were for home service. But this has been a false 
pretence, and, aware of the fact. Lord Russell in a despatch 
dated 14th March, 1864, says, that " Her Majesty's government 
do not claim the right to interfere in the status of domestic 
slavery in Zanzibar, nor with the hond-fide transport of slaves 
from one portion of the Sultan's territory to another, so long as 
this latter traffic shall not be made a cloak to cover the foreign 
slave-trade." 

It was the conviction that this was systematically being done, 
that induced the British government in November, 1872, to 
send a special mission, under Sir Bartle Frere, to Zanzibar, to 
demand an entire stoppage and cessation of the slave-trade. It 
could not be credited that so many as an average of twenty 
thousand slaves a year could possibly be required for the supply 
of the domestic demand in Zanzibar; and it was believed that 
nothing short of the entire suppression of the traffic would suffice 
for the protection of the poor people who were its victims. Sir 
Bartle Frere was especially qualified for such a trust as that 
which was reposed in him. At an early age he had entered the 
Civil Service of India, and in that service had passed through 
every grade, during a residence of upwards of thirty years, un- 
til he reached the highest dignity, the government of the pres- 
idency to which he belonged. His government had been most 
successful ; and he was a man of vigorous understanding, strong 
tenacity of purpose, a kindly disposition, a genial manner, and 
in earnest sympathy with the oppressed people whose sufferings 
he hoped to mitigate. He was, besides, well supported in his 
present undertaking by a staff of officers, some of whom were 
competent geographers, who intended to further explore the 
African interior. 



SIR BARTLE FRERE'8 MISSION TO ZANZIBAR. 463 

Having used his influence at Aden and Bombay in a manner 
the results of which were favorable, he proceeded to Zanzibar. 
The Sultan, Syed Bnrghash, was not at once amenable to reason, 
lie clung to the old treaty of 1845, and officially proclaimed 
that the ports were open to incoming and outgoing slaves ; but 
it was seen by the traders who were especially under influence 
from Bombay, that the British government was in earnest, and 
no laden dhows came in and none went out ; and the customs 
receipts fell off accordingly. That fact must have helped to 
open the Sultan's eyes. He had said that his religion would not 
permit him to grant Sir Bartle Frere's demands, and he had 
intimated that his people would not endure the proposed restric- 
tion. He had indeed been pleasant in all the interviews held 
with him, and had not objected to the British envoy's assertion 
that " the sea was God's highway, and ought not to carry slave- 
ships upon it." But his officers, he said, would not permit him 
to abolish the slave-trade. At flirst, therefore, he would do 
nothing — would promise nothing. But the course pursued by 
the traders enlightened him. These traders were in constant 
intercourse with places and persons desirous of standing well 
with England, and they durst not, therefore, oppose the wishes 
of the English government in the matter of the slave-trade. 
To the Sultan himself the profits of legitimate commerce were 
greater than those which were derived from this branch of 
traffic, and he was not able to brave the danger which now 
threatened his interests. "When the ships of the English squad- 
ron anchored off Zanzibar, and it was seen that the British 
government meant what it said, and that its demands would 
be sustained by the American and French governments, even 
the chiefs of the Sultan preferred a quiet arrangement to a 
blockade. On the 5th of June, 1873, the new treaty was signed 
by the Sultan, and even the home importation of slaves at Zan- 
zibar is therefore now at an end. 

Aside from the moral effect of this treaty, it will go far tow 
ards depriving the slave-dealers of a market, and by depriving 
the entire traffic on these coasts of the pseudo legal charactei 
which it has hitherto possessed, will render its complete suppres 
sion comparatively an easy matter. 



CHAPTER XX. 

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN AFRICA. 

At this stage of our work, after surveying all that has been 
done to add to our knowledge of Africa, the question naturally 
occurs, What lias been done for the civilization and evangeli- 
zation of this immense territory? Unhappily trade has been 
often so conducted that it has tended to degrade the people 
still further rather than to elevate them. The good influence 
has been almost entirely missionary. 

Most of the pagan tribes of Africa seem, according to the 
best authorities, to have a species of belief in a Supreme Being. 
They not only have a word to indicate that belief, but some of 
the tribes have subordinate terms to represent the Supreme, as 
the Creator, Governor, and Preserver. But their belief has 
little or no influence on their conduct. They do not realize in 
thought and feeling what the names denote, and regard the 
ruler of the world as indifferent, or even hostile, to His own 
creation. A belief in a future life seems to be nearly univer- 
sal, but confused and gross. Believing in the transmigration 
of souls, tliey hold in special veneration some of the lower ani- 
mals, supposing that these arc inhabited by the spirits of their 
ancestors or friends. They have strange and conflicting notions 
in respect to the condition of the dead. Of a state of future 
rewards and punishments they know nothing, although some 
have a shadowy idea of an ordeal which must be passed. 

Fetichism and devil-worship are the prevalent forms of 
religion among these tribes. The two things are separate 
and distinct, although they have sometimes been ignorantly 
confounded. Fetichism is the wearing of a charm. The 
charm passes under several names in different parts of the 
country. It may consist of anything which has been conse- 
crated to this particular use, but is usually a piece of wood, 
horn, ivory, or metal. There are various classes of fetiches, 
according to the ends contemplated, and these are known by 
distinct names. Some are worn about the person; others 
are suspended in the house to ward off danger, or on the 
highway to fence the farm and orchard, and make them 



GHBISTIAN MISSIONS m AFRICA, 465 

fruitful; others are worn in war to give success; and others 
are of a more public character, to guard the village, or to 
defend the person and Jiouse of the chief. The fetiches are 
thus supposed to save from some impending evil, or to secure 
some coveted good, and especially to provide against the 
power of witchcraft. They are trusted till proven ineffective, 
and then they are abandoned and others adopted instead. 
The faith in fetiches does not, however, fail. If a man 
possesses ten and finds nine of them useless, he regards the 
tenth as all the greater treasure. As old age with its feeble- 
ness advances, the veneration for fetiches becomes greater. 
Intercourse with civilized people, and the influence of Chris- 
tianity, can alone break up that potent spell. Ko one thinks 
of fetiches themselves as other than pieces of senseless mat- 
ter ; yet all believe that they exercise a mysterious and power- 
ful influence. 

But the principal, perhaps we ought to say the only, form 
of religious homage among these tribes has been called 
" devil-worship," perhaps for want of a more appropriate name. 
The spirits are invoked or deprecated. The belief is that 
there are good spirits, whose presence and favor are indispen- 
sable to preservation and comfort; and to propitiate them 
the people build houses and make large and varied offerings. 
The evil spirits are viewed as the authors of every form of 
evil, personal, domestic, and social. In some places, offerings 
are presented to conciliate the devil, and to induce him to 
remove the threatened or actual calamity. In other places, 
whole communities have resorted to clubs, with which, amid 
frantic gestures and screams and surrounded with the glare 
of hundreds of torch-lights, they have chased the fiend from 
their houses, beyond their town, and for several miles out 
into the country. 

With regard to Christian effort on behalf of these be- 
nighted people, we may observe that the London Missionary 
Society sent four agents to South Africa in the year 1798. 
In presenting an example of such work in Africa as is fur- 
nished by the labors of Moffat and his coadjutors, we shall 
have occasion more particularly to refer to these operations. 
At Kat River there was a mission established in 1816, for the 
purpose of extending efforts previously begun. Work of 
the same description has been carried on at the Zak Kiver, 
and among the Bushmen at Colesberg, and beyond the Orange 
Kiver into the wild and desolate Namaqua-land. Polj^gamy, 
slavery, war, and canteens in certain parts nearer to the Cape, 
80 



4m CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN AFBICA, 

are the great obstructions which hinder success in sucli enter- 
prises as these. Since Livingstone's explorations have made 
known so much of the interior of the country, various sta- 
tions, supported by different denominations of Christians, 
have been opened among the more distant tribes. 

In 1821, the Glasgow Missionary Society commenced its 
work in Kaifraria, in a soil which was very unpromising, but 
which has, nevertheless, not been unfruitful. Other societies 
have followed this example — the Free Church of Scotland, 
the United Presbyterian Church, the Glasgow African Society, 
and others. 

In 1737, Mr. George Schmidt, in connection with the 
Moravians, attempted to plant a mission near Sergeant's 
River, for the instruction of the Hottentots. He met with 
partial success, and, after instruction, baptized not a few 
natives. After seven years he was under the necessity of 
visiting Europe, and was ordered by the Dutch government 
not to return. But his little flock kept together. The Bible 
had been left with them ; and years afterwards there were 
pleasing traces of Mr. Schmidt's labors. The mission was 
revived in 1792. There have been many discouragements 
and difficulties, by means of war and otherwise, but there 
are now many stations, and a large number of professing 
Christians, as well as schools, and an institution for the train- 
dog of native preachers and teachers. 

The Paris Evangelical Missionary Society has various 
■stations in different parts of South Africa, farther into the 
anterior of the continent. In this region, the Rhenish Mis- 
sionary Society has also several agents. The Berlin Mission- 
:ary Society has ten stations among the Corannas and KafPres. 

The American Board of Missions, in 1834, established sta- 
tions in the countries of Dingaan's and Mosilikatse's tribes ; 
and though the work has been much interrupted, even to 
temporary cessation at times by war, it has yet been perse- 
vered in, and is maintained and extended. 

The Wcsleyans have long conducted missions in the Colony 
;and in its vicinity, and now they have penetrated far beyond 
lit. Of late years, the other sections of the Methodist family 
iiave followed the example of their elder sister, and sent agents 
to various parts of the country, nearer or more remote. 

In 1804, the Church of England Missionary Society sent 
two missionaries to the Susoo country in the vicinity of Sierra 
Leone. The Moravians, as early as 1736, had attempted a 
^settlement on the Gold Coast, and had persevered for about 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN AFRICA, 467 

forty years ; and the Baptists, in 1795, had also attempted 
work in Western Africa, but without success. In 1796, three 
societies — the London, the Scottish, and the Glasgow — made 
a united effort to plant a mission among the Foulahs, each 
contributing two missionaries; but disease and dissension 
thinned their numbers, and the only man who gave any prom- 
ise of usefulness was murdered. The attempt was renewed 
by the Glasgow Society alone ; but the two missionaries sur- 
vived their arrival in the country only a very few months. 
With these startling facts before them, it displayed courage 
on the part of both the directors and the missionaries to 
engage in a work which had been so frequently and so signally 
unsuccessful. Two missionaries arrived at Sierra Leone in 
1804; they settled for a time in Freetown. In 1806, four 
additional laborers arrived. These all, according to instruc- 
tions from home, devoted themselves almost exclusively to 
the teaching of the young. This was a mistake : the ignorant 
parents fancied that if their children learned from the white 
man's book, they must of necessity outshine their countrymen. 
They therefore discouraged the schools. It is needful to en- 
list the sympathy and good-will of a whole community before 
the work of education can rest on a proper and promising 
basis. The slave-traders also opposed the undertaking; but 
the missionaries persevered and broadened the plan of work- 
ing, seeking more directly to benefit the parents as well as 
the children. A new station was opened on the Bullom shore, 
and another on the Rio Dembia, or Gambler. But the slave- 
dealers fired the premises in the latter place, and the mission- 
aries barel}^ escaped with their lives. At Sierra Leone, and all 
around within near reach of it, these laborers were ultimately 
not a little successful. The schools and other institutions 
intended to promote the welfare of the people were of exten- 
sive benefit, and it was with much regret that, on account of 
the large loss of life which the maintenance of the mission 
involved, many of these stations had to be abandoned. 

The Yorubah, or Yarriba, country was at one time one of the 
most powerful kingdoms in Western Africa. In 1817 a 
great and destructive war spread desolation over its entire 
territory. Out of the ruin of one hundred and forty-five 
towns arose the city of Abbeokuta. The city is supposed to 
have a population of about one hundred thousand. The 
inhabitants had fled from the wasted villages, cleared away the 
forest, and continued building until streets of houses were 
erected for their accommodation. The people generally are 



4:68 CHRISTlAir MISSIONS IN AFRICA, 

agriculturists ; yet there are many mechanics and tradesmen 
in every useful calling. Their religion is polytheistic. They 
have no proper idea of the Supreme Being. They have a 
god for every sphere, and are firm believers in charms, 
divination, and witchcraft. Their chief gods are Saugo, the 
god of thunder, and Ifa, the god of divination. The people 
universally pray to the spirits of their deceased fathers. The 
"Egun" is the spirit of a dead man, which, after varied 
incantations, comes forth from the sacred grove, and person- 
ates various parties, and for different purposes. The scene 
of an occasion of " worship " is a masquerade, and a man 
acts in it in the most grotesque apparel. The " Egu," or 
" Oro," is associated with the government as well as with 
religion. It is a secret society, bound by the most sacred 
oaths. No woman is permitted to become a member ; and if, 
unhappily, one is discovered or suspected of knowing its 
mysteries, she is immediately put to death. When the 
"Egnn" comes to a town, the women hide themselves. 
Through this influence the government is conducted, its laws 
sanctioned, and its penalties enforced. When a culprit is 
punished, it is said that Oro has eaten him, and no question 
is asked. 

The missions among these people, as well as those at Sierra 
Leone, were under the care of the Church of England So- 
ciety ; and the missionaries still remaining, with fellow- 
laborers who occupy new ground, represent tliat there are 
four towns within two or three days' travel of Abbeokuta, 
with an aggregate population of two hundred thousand. 
There are many other towns, and the same language is spoken 
in all, so that the way is open for such efforts of missionary 
zeal. Many of the people have become Mahometans, which 
shows that they are not hopelessly wedded to their supersti- 
tious views. 

Mr. Samuel Crowther is an African, and a native of the 
Yorubah district. He was rescued from a Portuguese slaver by 
a British cruiser, carried to Sierra Leone, educated in the 
Fourah Bay institution, went to England, where he completed 
his education at the Society's institution in Islington, and was 
ordained by the Bishop of London as a missionary to Sierra 
Leone. He preached his first English sermon in Africa, in 
the Freetown Church, on the 3d of December, 1843, when 
great interest and high hopes were excited. In the following 
January, he established a service in Yorubah, his native 
tongue. The novelty of the service attracted an immense 



CHBISTIAN MISSION'S IN AFRIOA. 469 

crowd. Many of these people returned to their native homes, 
and a mission was instituted for Yorubah itself, and new 
agents were appointed. Crowther also laid, with great wisdom, 
the foundation of an important scheme called the Niger Mis- 
sion. He was consecrated bishop — an able and most worthy 
man — and these evangelistic efforts have greatly prospered. 
Connected with these missions altogether there are more than 
a score of missionaries and several thousand communicants. 

In the Old Calabar district of Western Africa there are 
several stations, which are under the care of the United 
Presbyterian Church. Dr. Wad dell and other agents have 
labored with much success for the good of the people, both 
old and young. Greek Town, Duke Town, and Old Town 
have been the more immediate spheres of operation. The 
climate is most unhealthy to Europeans, and the loss of mis- 
sionary life has been very great. Slavery and the debasing 
superstitions of the people have been formidable discourage- 
ments ; but the work has been persistently carried on. 

The Basle Missionary Society turned its attention to the 
Gold Coast in 1826, and five agents arrived at Christiansborg, 
near Akra, in 1828. There has been much loss of life, but 
the work lias been persevered in and has prospered. There 
are three principal centres of operation — Christiansborg, Akro- 
pong, and Ussu, or Danish Akra. 

The American Board for Foreign Missions began its efforts, 
on behalf of Western Africa, by forming a station at Cape 
Palmas in 1834. Two years afterwards the mission was 
reinforced, and in three years more the war between Dingaan 
and the Dutch drove several missionaries from South Africa 
to this point, at which they continued their labors. There 
are now several missionaries, a physician, and a number of 
native assistants, and their endeavors have not been without 
good results. A change was soon visible in the Negro popu- 
lation, the Sabbath became respected, and both churches and 
schools were well attended. 

The American Methodist Episcopal Church has sent several 
agents to Liberia ; and they have had gratifying success, but 
from the insalubrity of th^ climate, at great cost of life and 
treasure. 

The American Episcopal Board of Missions has stations in 
Western Africa, at Cape Palmas, and elsewhere. In connec- 
tion with the mission there are also da}^ and boarding schools, 
churches, and an orphan asylum, and there are eleven stations, 
eleven missionaries, eleven assistants, and four native teachers. 



470 CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN AFRICA, 

However much the late war against Ashantee may be 
regretted, it will at least morally affect all these parts, and, 
it is to be hoped, will weaken superstition, and open the way 
for renewed missionary effort. 

The American Missionary Association has also a mission, 
called the Mendi Mission, in the Sherbro country, which em- 
ploys seven missionaries. 

The Southern American Baptist Convention has accom- 
plished much good in Liberia and Yorubah, where there are 
thirteen missionaries, eleven churches, and eleven schools. 

It will be observed by the reader that this effort, though 
by many organizations and in a wide field, has yet been re- 
stricted to the older and longer known parts of Africa. But 
this is natural. Evangelization could not be projected in 
regard to un visited and unknown lands ; and exploration and 
extensive discovery in the African continent have only within 
recent years brought to our knowledge the existence and the 
needs of those immense multitudes who now claim our benev- 
olent aid. Nor has the claim been disregarded. The visit 
of Dr. Livingstone to England, after his first great journey, 
gave a new impulse to missionary zeal oh behalf of these 
millions of people. In that visit originated Bishop Macken- 
zie's, or the Universities' Mission ; and all the great organiza- 
tions whose object is the welfare of the heathen have largely, 
because of the same revelations, augmented the number of 
their agents, while others who had not previously been in the 
field have willingly joined them in a work which is so great, 
and many Christian teachers have gone to the distant interior, 
to tribes of the existence of whom we were previously igno- 
rant. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY. 

Mjffat's journeys in South Africa, if regarded from a geo- 
graphical point of view, should have been recorded much earlier 
in the present volume, which is as nearly as possible chrono- 
logical in its arrangement; but their results in the way of 
discovery have already been summarized in the introductory 
chapter, and we shall present in the following pages a few 
only of the most characteristic incidents in the experience of 
one whose name is, next to his son-in-law Livingstone's, the 
most prominent in the long list of missionaries to Africa. 
These experiences may be taken as a type of those of African 
missionaries in general, and they possess, therefore, a more than 
individual interest. 

RoBEET Moffat was born at Ormiston, near Haddington, 
Scotland, in 1795. His early years were spent at Carron 
Shore, on the Frith of Forth, his father being connected with 
the Customs at that place. At about twelve years of age he 
was induced to go to sea ; but he did not like it, and soon re- 
turned to school. B}^ and by he became a gardener, and after 
spending a few years near home, went to England and obtained 
a situation in Cheshire. Mc)ffat's parents were both good peo- 
ple ; his mother, in particular, setting him an example of hum- 
ble but sincere piety. When about to leave home for England, 
she earnestly besought him to promise her that he would read 
a portion of the Bible every day, both morning and evening. 
He evaded the question — he had not coniidence in himself; 
but she insisted, and he gave the desired pledge, and, moreover, 
did what he had promised. Years afterwards he said, "Oh, 
I am happy I did so ! " In Warrington his attention was 
drawn to the work of the London Missionary Society ; and, in 
respect to that work, he asked and obtained an interview with 
the Rev. Mr. Roby, of Manchester. The result was that he 
offered his services to the Directors of that Society, and was 
accepted. Shortly before, a young man, in ever}^ way well fitted 
for the duties which he sought the opportunity of perform- 
ing, had been refused because his parents would not consent. 



4:72 MOFFAT, TEE MISSIONARY. 

Dr. Waugh was in the chair, and said to the applicant, " M;^ 
dear lad, your father refuses, and, though quite satisfied with 
your examination, we cannot accept you, because we don't 
think you strong enough, just yet, to jump over the fifth com- 
mandment." Moffat knew of this, and therefore when he was 
asked, "Have you made your parents acquainted with your 
purpose?" a faintness came over him, as he was compelled to 
answer "]^o." But he was received, and the reply was, "We 
have thought of your proposal to become a missionary: we 
have prayed over it ; and we cannot withhold you from so good 
a work." He never had any formal ministerial training, 
although for a time he gratefully received instructions from 
Mr. Hoby. He was encouraged by Dr. Andrew Reed and 
Dr. Philip, both of whom were at the time but shortly advanced 
in paths of their own which led to future eminence. His great 
success as a missionary was likewise predicted by the sagacious. 
Rev. William Orme, the Secretary of the Society. How well- 
grounded were his expectations the result has abundantly 
shown. 

Moffat arrived at the Cape in 1817, and soon set out for 
Great Namaqua-land, the scene of his first missionary labors. 
The way had been to some extent prepared for him by the Rev. 
John Campbell, who had been deputed by the Society to visit the 
stations in Africa, and to open up new ground. Under Camp- 
bell's ministrations, Africaner, a noted Namaqua freebooter chief, 
had shown signs of relenting and hopeful change ; Moffat was 
directed, in the first instance, to remain for some time with him 
and his people, who are the Namaqua branch of the Hottentots. 
On the 26th of January, 1818, after a toilsome and adventu- 
rous journey across Cape Colony, the missionary arrived at 
Africaner's kraal on the banks of the Orange Kiver. The 
chief appeared in about an hour, and inquired if he was the 
missionary appointed by the directors in London, and being 
answered in the affirmative, seemed much pleased, and gave 
orders that " a hou§e should be built for the missionary." This 
task was accomplished by the women in about half an hour 
— the structure being composed of native mats and poles. 
Though so easily built, however, it must be admitted that a Hot- 
tentot hut is not unexceptionable on the score of comfort. " I 
lived," says Moffat, " nearly six months in this native hut, which 
very frequently required tightening and fastening after a storm. 
When the sun shone, it was unbearably hot ; when the rain fell, 
I came in for a share of it ; when the wind blew, I had fre- 
quently to decamp to escape the dust ; and in addition to these 



MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY, 473 

little inconveniences, any hungry cur of a dog that wished a 
night's lodging would force itself through the frail wall, and 
not unf requently deprive me of my meal for the coming day , 
and I have more than once found a serpent coiled up in a cor- 
ner. Nor were these all the contingencies of such a dwelling; 
for, as the cattle belonging to the village had no fold, I have 
been compelled to start up from a sound sleep, and try to de- 
fend myself and my dwelling from being crushed to pieces by 
the rage of two bulls which had met to light a nocturnal duel." 

Another missionary had already occupied the station, but he 
soon removed, and Moffat was left alone. His feelings were 
alternately those of joy and despondency. He was in a barren 
and savage country, with a salary of about $125 a year — ^no 
grain, therefore no bread, — and, worse than all, no Christian 
society. 

It was not long, however, before he was cheered in his work. 
The state of the chief's mind had been doubtful, but now he 
attended the services with great regularity ; he had made con- 
siderable progress in reading, and the New Testament became 
his constant companion. He might be seen under the shadow of 
a great rock, for most of the day, eagerly perusing its pages. 
For nights he would sit with the missionary on a large stone at 
the latter's door, and sit till dawn, talking of the wonders of crea- 
tion. Providence, redemption, and the eternal world. This 
man turned out a most decided Christian, and his natural 
force of character was all spent in his subsequent life in the 
service of righteousness and peace. He exhibited, indeed, a 
susceptibility to moral impressions surprising in one of his de- 
graded race. " One day, when seated together," the mission- 
ary relates, " I happened, in absence of mind, to be gazing 
steadfastly on him. It arrested his attention, and he modestly 
inquired the cause. I replied, * I was trying to picture to my- 
self your carrying fire and sword through the country, and I 
could not think how eyes like yours could smile at human 
woe ! ' He answered not, but shed a flood of tears ! He zeal- 
ously seconded my efforts to improve the people in cleanli- 
ness and industry, and it would have made any one smile to 
have seen Africaner and myself superintending the school- 
children, now about a hundred and twenty, washing themselves 
at the fountain." 

It was impossible to make Africaner's kraal a permanent 
missionary station. It was therefore resolved to look about for 
a locality more suitable. Moffat, all things being ready, after 
some trouble in preparation, started with about thirty men, in- 



474 MOFFAT, THE MISSIOITART. 

eluding Africaner himself. He objected to so many, but was 
assured that the number was necessary for his safety. This 
journey, which occupied several weeks, revealed more clearly 
the dark condition of the heathen mind. The people had no 
knowledge of God, of the soul, or of a future state. They had 
no idols — no worship of any kind. Mr. Campbell, in his " Life 
of Africaner," says that he asked him, on one occasion, " what 
his views of God were before he had enjoyed the benefit of 
Christian instruction, and his reply was, that he never thought 
anything at all on these subjects : that he thought about nothing 
but his cattle, lie admitted that he had heard of a God, he 
having been brought up in the Colony, but he at the same 
time stated that his views of God were so erroneous, that the 
name suggested no more to his mind than something that 
might be found in the form of an insect, or in the lid of a snuff- 
box." 

On the journey homewards from this tour in search of a 
more suitable place for a mission station, the explorei's were 
frequently exposed to dangers from lions. Sometimes these 
beasts of prey became so bold as to rush into the midst of the 
travellers' oxen at night, and scatter them, occasioning long 
and weary, searches for the cattle before the}^ could again be 
collected. In one sucli instance, Moffat found at a spot tt) 
which he had been led by the appearance of smoke an object 
of deep and painful interest, which illustrates the barbarity and 
unnatural cruelty of the natives. There was a venerable-look- 
ing old woman, sitting with her head resting on her knees. 
Being addressed kindly, and asked who she was, she I'eplied, 
" I am a woman ; I have been here four days ; my children 
have left me here to die ! " " Your children ! " " Yes, my own 
children: three sons and two daughters. They are gone to yon- 
der blue mountains, and have left me to die." " But why did 
they leave you ? " "1 am old, you see," she replied, spreading 
out her hands; " and I am no longer able to serve them. When 
they kill game, I am too feeble to help in carrying home the flesh; 
I am not able to carry wood to make fire ; and I cannot carry their 
children on my back as I used to do." He tried to persuade 
her to go with him in his wagon, and promised to care for 
her ; but all in vain. She became convulsed with terror, and, 
fearing she might die in his hands if he had her carried to his 
escort, he was compelled to leave her, having supplied her with 
provisions ; while, in reference to her position, she said, " It is 
our custom ; I am nearly dead ; I do not want to die again." 
He understood afterwards that her family, observing the trav 



MOFFAT, THE MISSIONABT. 4.75 

ellers near to where they had left their mother, had returned, 
and being afraid lest the white man should punish them, had 
taken her home, and were providing for her with more than 
ordinary care. 

Disappointed in respect to their being able to find a more 
suitable locality for the work of the mission, the party endeav- 
ored to reach home by a shorter route farther to the east, on 
the borders of the Kalahari Desert, which lies between !N'ama- 
qua-land and the country of the Bechuanas. But they paid 
dearly for their haste, for they found themselves in a plain of 
deep sand, through which it was next' to impossible to take 
their wagon. They were also much in want of water. They 
found only watermelons where water might have been ex- 
pected, and these were as bitter as gall. 

Tliis journey, which had occupied only a few weeks, settled 
one important point; namely, the impossibility of obtaining 
any eligible situation for a missionary establishment in that 
desolate region. Such rambling visits were, therefore, resumed 
on a more extended scale, the services at home being conducted 
by two brothers of Africaner, who proved very efficient assist- 
ants. These expeditions were sometimes attended not only by 
privation, but also by danger. Tying his Bible and hymn- 
book in a blanket to the back of his saddle — for the missionary 
now rode on a borrowed hoi*se — he would start with his inter- 
preter, who rode on an ox. They had their guns, but nothing 
in purse or scrip except a pipe, some tobacco, and a tinder-box. 
They had no bread, but managed to pick up a precarious living 
by the way. After a hot day's ride to reach a village before 
nightfall, the people, on their arrival, would give them a 
draught of milk; and then, old and young assembling in a 
corner of the cattle-fold, all would listen to an address on the 
subject of their spiritual safety. When this was over, the 
preacher, having taken another draught of milk and renewed 
convej'satioD with the people, would lie down on a mat, and 
seek repose for the night. 

So it was day by day. After another address in the morn- 
ing, the missionary would start for another village; reaching 
which in the evening, travel-stained and hungry — his companion 
and he having breakfasted on milk only — they perhaps found 
it empty, the whole population having been obliged to go else- 
where in search of water and grass. There was no help for it. 
Hungry and thii'st}^ they would take possession of some empty 
hut, and do their best to sleep, but were not unfrequently dis- 
turbed in the night by hyenas, jackals, or lions, which prowl- 



476 MOFFAT, TEE MISSIONABT. 

about deserted villages in search of what may have been left 
behind. Next morning, having breakfasted on water, not over- 
sweet after they had found it, they would follow the track of 
the departed people, thankful if they succeeded in overtaking 
them. Even at home the larder was not always full. The 
missionary's food was milk and meat, he living for weeks on 
the one, and then for a time on the other, and then on both to- 
gether. All was well so long as he had either; but sometimes 
both failed, and there were somewhat long fasts so rigorous 
that recourse must be had to " the fasting-girdle." The con- 
tents of his wardrobe bore the same impress of poverty. He 
says, " The supply of clothes which I had received in London 
wei'e, as is too often the case, made after the dandy fashion, 
and 1 being still a growing youth, they soon went to pieces."^ 

Months had been spent in search of a suitable place in which 
usefully to settle, but in vain, when Africaner proposed to him 
to visit the Griqua country, to the east of the desert, to inspect 
a situation offered to him and his people, to which he might re- 
move with the full sanction of the chiefs of the Griquas. Af- 
ter much consultation the party started, consisting, besides Mof- 
fat, of two brothers of Africaner, with his son, and a guide. 
They had about eight horses, good and bad, and trusted entirely 
for food to what they might shoot on the way. Their course 
was principally on the north side of the Orange E-iver. It was 
toilsome and diflicult and dangerous. They had to cross 
desert plains without trees or shelter of any kind. At some 
points they found the river flowing through great chasms and 
overhung with stupendous precipices; while anon it would 
spread into a translucent lake, with towering mimosas and wil- 
lows reflected on its bosom. There were very many varieties 
of birds, and also beasts of prey. There were few inhabitants 
on the banks of the river. Some whom they did meet were 
kind, but others would give them neither food nor drink, but 
simply point out to them a place of repose. 

On one occasion Moffat had a narrow escape ; but he had 
more work to do, and " man is immortal till his work is done." 
The party had reached the river early in the afternoon, having 
made a detour to escape from its windings, and three of their 
number had gone onward to a Bushman village. He went, 
because his horse would go, to a small pool, the water-course 
from which had receded to the main stream, or had evapo- 
rated. He dismounted and drank, but immediately on raising 
himself felt an unusual taste in his mouth ; and observing that 
the pool was temporarily fenced round, it occurred to him that 



MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY. 477 

this must be water poisoned for the purpose of kilh'ng game. 
It was so. When lie reached his companions and arrived at 
the village, he made signs to the natives that he wanted the 
fruit of the solanum, for he was violently ill, and his veins 
were as if they would burst ; but none could be found. He 
was soon covered with a profuse perspiration, and drank largely 
of pure water ; and although the strange and painful sensation 
which he had experienced gradually wore away, it was not en- 
tirely removed for some days. 

They continued their journey, hungry and thirty, and exposed 
to many dangers. Much in want of water, the missionary was 
directed by a native to the top of a hill, where, if anywhere, 
water might be expected. When he had reached the summit, 
he happened to cough, and was instantly surrounded by about 
a hundred baboons, some of them of gigantic size. He says : 
" They grunted, grinned, and sprang from stone to stone, pro- 
truding their mouths, threatening an instant attack. I kept 
parrying them with my gun, which was loaded ; but I knew 
their character and disposition too well to fire, for if I had 
wounded one of them, I should have been skinned in five min- 
utes. The ascent had been very laborious, but I would have 
given anything tabe at the bottom of the hill again. Some 
came so near as even to touch my hat while passing projecting 
rocks. It was some time before I reached the plain, when 
they appeared to hold a noisy council, either about what they 
had done or intended doing. Levelling my piece at two that 
seemed the most fierce, I was about to touch the trigger, when 
a thought occurred to me : I have escaped, let me be thankful ; 
therefore I left them uninjured, perhaps with the gratification 
of having given me a fright." 

Exhausted and anxious, they at last reached Griqua Town, 
where the missionaries, Anderson and Helm, gave them a 
hearty welcome. They afterwards visited Daniel's Kuil, and 
also Lattakoo (Lithako), where they remained several days. 
This was the first time Moffat had seen the Bechuanas, among 
whom he afterwards labored for so many years. They then 
returned to Griqua Town, and immediately set out on their re- 
turn home to Namaqua-land. An account of the journey was 
submitted to Africaner. He was much pleased with the report 
which was given in regard to the proposed new settlement, and 
resolved that he and his people should remove thither. 

Before the migration could commence, however, Moffat 
found it necessary to visit Cape Town, and he proposed that 
Africaner should accompany him. To the latter this was a 



478 MOFFAT, THE MISSION'ABY. 

journey of no small risk. He had to pass through the country 
of the Dutch farmers whom he had robbed; he was an outlaw, 
and an offer of one thousand rix dollars for his head was still 
outstanding. It was settled finally that Africaner should go 
disguised as Moffat's servant ; and the plan succeeded perfectly, 
though from the time they reached the settlements their anxiety 
was incessant. At one farm, about half way to the Cape, an 
interesting incident occurred, which is thus related by Mof- 
fat : 

**' On approaching the place, which was on an eminence, I 
directed my men to take the wagon to the valley below, while 
I walked towards the house. The farmer, seeing a stranger, 
came slowly down the descent to meet me. When within a 
few yards, I addressed him in the usual way, and, stretching 
out my hand, expressed my pleasure at seeing him again. Pie 
put his hand behind him, and asked me, rather wildly, who 1 
was. I replied that I was Moffat, expressing my wonder that 
he should have forgotten me. ' Moffat ! ' he rejoined, in a fal- 
tering voice ; ' it is your ghost ! ' and moved some steps back- 
ward. * I am no ghost,' I said. ' Don't come near me ! ' he 
exclaimed, ' you have been long murdered by Africaner.' 'But 
I am no ghost,' I said, feeling my hands, as if to convince him, 
and myself too, of my materiality ; but his alarm only in- 
creased. ' Everybody says you were murdered, and a man 
told me he had seen your bones ; ' and he continued to gaze at 
me, to the no small astonishment of the good wife and chil- 
dren, who were standing at the door, as also to that of my own 
people, who were looking on from the wagon below. At 
length he extended his trembling hand, saying, ' When did 
you rise from the dead ? ' 

" As he feared my presence would alarm his wife, we bent 
our steps towards the wagon, and Africaner w^as the subject of 
our conversation. I gave him in a few words my views of his 
present character, saying, ' He is now a truly good man.' To 
which he replied, ' I can believe almost anything you say, but 
that I cannot credit.' By this time we were standing with Af- 
ricaner at our feet ; on his countenance sat a smile, he well 
knowing the prejudices of some of the farmers. The man 
closed the conversation by saying, with much earnestness, 
* Well, if what you assert be true respecting that man, I have 
only one wish, and that is, to see him before I die ; and when 
you return, as sure as the sun is over our heads, I will go with 
you to see him, though he killed my own uncle.' I was not 
before aware of this fact, and now felt some hesitation whether 



MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY. 479 

to discover to him the object of his wonder ; but knowing the 
sincerity of the farmer and the goodness of his disposition, I 
said, ' This, then, is Africaner.' He started back, looking in- 
tensely at the man as if he had just dropped from the clouds. 
' Are you Africaner ? ' he exclaimed. The chief arose, doffed 
his old hat, and, making a polite bow, answered, * I am.' The 
farmer seemed thunder-struck ; but when, by a few questions, 
he had assured himself of the fact that the former bugbear of 
the border stood before him, now meek and lamb-like in his 
whole deportment, he lifted up his eyes and exclaimed, 'O 
God, what a miracle of Thy power ! what cannot Thy grace ac- 
complish ! ' The kind farmer and his no less hospitable wife 
now abundantly supplied our wants ; but we hastened our de- 
parture lest the intelligence might get abroad that Africaner 
was with me, and bring unpleasant visitors." 

On their arrival at Cape Town, Africaner was introduced to 
the governor, Lord Charles Somerset, who received him with 
much affability and kindness, and expressed the pleasure he 
had in seeing thus before him one who had formerly been the 
scourge of the country. A deputation from the London Mis- 
sionary Society, consisting of the Rev. John Campbell and the 
Rey. Dr. Philip, was at this time at the Cape, and to them 
Africaner was an object of much interest. 

The purpose of Sloffat's visit to the cape was twofold : to 
procure supplies, and to introduce the chief to the Colonial 
Government. He had had no intention but that of returning 
to his present port in Namaqua-land — at least for a time ; but 
the deputation desired him to accompanj^ them to the mission 
stations, and then to proceed on a mission to the Bechuanas. 
Africaner generousl}^ offered to take his books and some small 
quantity of furniture which he had purchased, in his wagon 
across the continent to Lithako. Something in the way of fur- 
niture, more than he had hitherto had, had become necessary ; 
for though Moffat had till now been alone. Miss Smith, to 
whom he had long been engaged, arrived from England, and 
he now found " an helpmeet for him " — one who, for half a 
century, was his companion in his wilderness home, and who was 
called away from him only after her recent return to England. 

The removal was effected so far as the missionary was con- 
cerned ; but before settling down he had to accompany Mr. 
Campbell on his visits to other stations. He bade his friend 
Africaner a farewell which had in it the hope of a speedy 
future meeting, but that chief died within two years. The 
Wesleyans afterward occupied the station at Namaqua-land, 



4:80 MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY, 

making Africaner's kraal an out-station; for the people did not 
migrate as their chief had intended. 

Respecting the Bechuanas, the powerful tribe, or collection 
of tribes, among whom Moffat labored for so many years, there 
was but little known, except by mere report, till they were 
visited by a colonist with a party of cattle-robbers at an early 
period of the colonial history. The next visit was by the 
marauder Bloom, a Dutch farmer. He and his followers com- 
mitted great havoc on the flocks and herds of the Bechuanas, 
putting to death vast numbers of the people. In 1801, two 
messengers visited the mission station on the Orange River for 
the purpose of obtaining cattle for the government by lawful 
trade, in the way of barter, and also went to the Batlapis and 
Batlaros, the two nearest tribes of the Bechuana nation, for the 
same purpose. This visit made a favorable impression as to the 
character and disposition of the Bechuanas on the minds of 
these gentlemen. A short time previously, two missionaries 
had settled on the banks of the Kuruman River, near which 
the Batlapis and others were at that time living under the 
chief, or king, Molehabangue. He was kind to strangers. 
"When Messrs. Evans and Hamilton went to Lithako, thirty 
miles north-east of the Kuruman River, Mothibi, the king's son, 
with' his council, directed them to the Kuruman River, ex- 
pecting them there to trade and barter, as certain former 
missionaries had done. They declined to follow such an ex- 
ample. The temporal advantages are not unfrequently the in- 
ducernent with both chiefs and people when they receive mis- 
sionaries. 

Dr. Lichenstein was the first traveller who visited the Bat- 
lapis. This was in 1805. The king, Molehabangue, received 
him with kindness, and he reports well of the people. The 
next travellers who visited these parts were Dr. Cowan and 
Captain Denovan. They went under the auspices of the 
English government, with a considerable party and two wag- 
ons. Their expedition occurred in 1807. Their object 
was to pass through the Bechuana country, and proceed to the 
Portuguese settlements near Mozambique. They passed safely 
through the territory of the Batlapis, Barolongs, Bamangketse, 
and Bakuenas, and perished at no great distance from the 
eastern coast, but by what means has never been ascertained. 

Dr. Burchell visited the country in 1812, and pushed his 
scientific and other researches as far as Chue, a considerable 
distance north of Lithako, and it was his intention to advance 
as far as the Portuguese settlement on the west coast, passing 



MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY. 481 

through the Kalahari Desert to Cuiigo ; but his attendants de- 
serted him, and he was compelled to desist. 

It was in 1815 that Messrs. Evans, Hamilton, Williams, and 
Baker left England to proceed to Lithako, They reached their 
destination on the 17th of February, 1816, accompanied by 
Adam Kok, a most self-denying and useful man, and several 
others as interpreters. But they were coldly received by Mo- 
thibi, whose first question was, " What have you brought for 
barter?" After two days of earnest attempts at persuasion to 
be permitted to remain where they were, inasmuch as tlie 
greatest number of people were there, they were peremptorily 
told, as has already been stated, to " Go to the Kuruman River, 
and traffic there ; but don't teach. Here there is no water, 
there are no trees, and the people have customs, and will not 
hear." They were obliged to return to Griqua Town and wait 
for an opening. In one of their journeys from that centre, 
as they endeavored to make themselves useful, they were told 
that the king now appeared willing to receive them. And 
they tried. But Mothibi, with twelve hundred of his men, be- 
ing absent for a month, they were compelled again to return 
from want of provisions. The prospect was somewhat brighter, 
but Mr. Evans was discouraged, and relinquished the mission 
altogether. A subsequent attempt by Mr. Hamilton was more 
successful. 

Mr. Hamilton was, for a time, accompanied by Mr. Eead, a 
sagacious and experienced missionary from the Colony ; but 
subsequently he was alone : Mofi'at and his wife being with Mr. 
Campbell, the deputy from London, visiting the stations — a 
rather remarkable wedding-tour. Hamilton was a missionary 
artisan. While Read and he were together, Mothibi mustered 
a large expedition against the Bakuenas, nearly two hundred 
miles to the north-east. His object was the capture of cattle. 
But he was foiled in his purpose : many of his followers were 
slain, and Mothibi himself was wounded. In June, 1817, he and 
his people removed to the Kuruman River. Moffat's appoint- 
ment was to this mission, but he was directed first to attend to 
certain 'duties at Griqua Town, which detained him for a con- 
siderable time. Hamilton, in his loneliness, had a hard lot and 
many difficulties. He had great manual labor in digging a 
long water-course, preparing ground, and building. He had, in 
many ways, to toil with his hands to preserve himself and fam- 
ily from beggary. Besides, all the head men of the place 
acted as if they had a right to everything he possessed — every- 
thing they could lay their hands on. His goods were stolen 
31 



482 MOFFAT, THE MISSIOWAMT. 

when it was known he was conducting some religions services 
and could not possibly return to disturb the thieves before a 
particular time. 

In May, 1821, Moffat joined him, and from that day to this 
there has been a strong power for good centring at Kuruman, 
and extending far. These two men, themselves working hard 
and long, have had their labors assisted and supplemented by 
other missionaries. The day, Sabbath, and infant scliools have 
been fruitful of large benefit ; the church services have been 
numerously attended, and many have avowed tliemselves 
Christians, their lives being consistent with such avowal ; print- 
ing-presses have been set up, and are at work, to supply the in- 
creasing demands of a reading population, school-books, and 
other worksj as well as the whole Bible itself, as translated by 
Moffat, being produced at the station ; and now a more regu- 
lar school of instruction for native teachers is beinc: ororanized, 
and is to be appropriately called " The Moffat Institution " ; 
while the advanced standard-bearers, who liave penetrated 
iono-er distances into the interior, see much to encouraofo them 
onward. Moffat himself has returned to England to enjoy the 
well-earned repose to which so many years of arduous and hon- 
•orable toil entitle him. But he still seeks the promotion of 
African missions by frequent addresses and other means, and, 
notwithstanding his advanced years, lias been diligently em- 
ployed on a new edition of the Bible in the language of the 
people for whom he has done so much. 

Kain-makers were the worst opponents of Moffat and his 
companions, as they are of all missionaries everywhere in 
Africa; and their pretended arguments against the teaching of 
the people are such as tell upon these ignorant and besotted 
tribes. For example, a wily rain-maker, who was the oracle of 
the village in which he lived, after hearing Moffat enlarge on 
one occasion on the subject of the creation, said, " If you 
treally believe that that Being created all men, then, according 
ito reason, you must also believe that in making white people He 
has improved on His work. He tried His hand on Bushmen first, 
;and He did not like them because they were so ugly, and their 
language like that of the frogs. He then tried His hand on the 
Hottentots, but these did not please Him either. He then ex- 
ercised His power and skill and made the Bechuanas, which was 
a great improvement. And at last He made the white people ; 
therefore, the white people are so much wiser than we are in 
»making walking houses (wagons), teaching the oxen to draw 
them over hill and dale, and instructing them also to plough 



MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY. 438 

the gardens, instead of making their wives do it, like the Bech- 
lianas." Such talk receives the applause of the people, and 
the arguments of the missionary are as a feather in the balance. 
And yet it is not always safe to be a rain-maker. When rain 
will not come, by any incantation, the poor deceiver is caught 
in his own craftiness ; and if he does not flee for his life, when 
patient waiting has been exhausted, he is not unfrequently 
murdered. The following incident, as described by Moffat, 
illustrates at once the superstition of the Bechuanas, the methods 
by which the rain-makers maintain their influence, and the way 
in which they both can and do embarrass the efforts of the 
missionaries. 

" Years of drought," says Moffat, " had been severely felt, 
and the natives, tenacious of their faith in the potency of a man, 
held a council and passed resolutions to send for a rain-maker 
of renown from the Bakurutsi tribe, two hundred miles north- 
east of the Kuruman station. 

" Rain-makers have always most honor among a strange people, 
and therefore they are generally foreigners. The heavens had 
been as brass — scarcely a cloud had been seen for months, even 
on the distant horizon. Suddenly a shout was raised, and the 
whole town was in motion : the rain-maker was approaching. 
Every voice was raised to the highest pitch with acclamations 
of enthusiastic joy. He had sent a harbinger to announce his 
approach, with peremptory orders for all the inhabitants to 
wash their feet. Every one seemed to fly in swiftest obedience 
to the adjoining river. Noble and ignol3le, even the girl who 
attended to our kitchen-fire, ran ; old and young ran ; all the 
world could not have stopped them. By this time the clouds 
began to gather, and a crowd went out to welcome the mighty 
man, who, as they imagined, was now collecting in the heavens 
his stores of rain. 

" Just as he was descending the height into the town, the 
immense concourse danced and shouted, so that the very earth 
rang, and at the same time the lightnings darted and the thunders 
roared in awful grandeur. A few heavy drops fell, which pro- 
duced the most thrilling ecstasy in the deluded multitude, 
whose shoutings baffled all description. Faith hung upon the 
lips of the impostor, while he proclaimed aloud that this year 
the women must cultivate gardens on the hills and not in the 
valleys, for the latter would be deluged. After the din had 
somewhat subsided, a few individuals came to our dwellings to 
tr^at us and our doctrines with derision. 'Where is your 
God ? ' one asked with a sneer. We were silent, because the 



484 MOFFAT, THE MIS8I0NAB7. 

wicked were before us. 'Have you not seen our Morimo? 
Have you not beheld him cast from his arm the fiery spears, 
and rend the heavens ? Have you not heard with your ears 
his voice in the clouds ? ' adding with an interjection of supreme 
disgust, ' You talk of Jehovah and Jesus, what can they do ?' 
Never in my life do I remember a text being brought home 
with such power as the words of the Psalmist, ' Be still, and 
know that I am God : I will be exalted among the heathen.' 

" The rain-maker found the clouds in our country rather 
harder to manage than those he had left. He complained that 
secret rogues were disobeying his proclamations. When urged 
to make repeated trials, he would reply, ' You only give me 
sheep and goats to kill, therefore I can only make goat-rain ; 
give me fat slaughter-oxen, and I shall let you see ox-rain.' 
One day, as he was taking a sound sleep, a shower fell, on 
which one of the principal men entered his house to congratu- 
late him, but, to his utter amazement found him totally insensi- 
ble to what was transpiring. ' Halloo, by my father ! 1 
thought you were making rain,' said the intrudef ; when the 
magician, arising from his slumbers and seeing his wife sitting 
on the floor, shaking a milk-sack in order to obtain a little 
butter to anoint her hair, he replied, pointing tO' the opera- 
tion of churning, ' Do yoa not see my wife churning rain as 
fast as she can?' This reply gave entire satisfaction, and it 
presently spread through the length and breadth of the town, 
that the rain-maker had churned the shower out of a milk-sack. 
The moisture caused by this shower was dried up by a scorch- 
ing sun ; many long weeks followed without a single cloud, 
and when they did appear, they were sometimes seen, to the 
great mortification of the conjurer, to discharge their watery 
treasures at an immense distance. 

" The rain-maker had recourse to numerous expedients and 
stratagems, and continued his performances for many weeks. 
All his efforts, however, proving unsuccessful, he kept himself 
very secluded for a fortnight, and, after cogitating how he 
could make his own cause good, he appeared in the public fold, 
aud proclaimed that he had discovered the cause of the 
drought. All were now eagerly listening ; he dilated some 
time, until he had raised their expectations to the highest pitch, 
when he revealed the mystery. ' Do you not see, when clouds 
come over us, that Hamilton and Moffat look at them ? ' This 
question receiving a liearty and unanimous affirmation, he 
added that our white faces frightened away the clouds, and 
they need not expect rain so long as we were in the country. 



MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY, 485 

This was a home stroke, and it was an easy matter for us to 
calculate what the influence of such a charge would be on the 
public mind. We were very soon informed of the evil of our 
conduct, to which we plead guilty, promising that we were not 
aware that we were doing wrong, being as anxious as any of 
them for rain ; we would willingly look to our chins, or the 
ground all the day long, if it would serve their purpose. It 
was rather remarkable, that much as they admired my long 
black beard, they thought that in this case it was most to 
blame. However, this season of trial passed over to our great 
comfort, though it was followed for some time with many in- 
dications of suspicion and distrust," 

The government of these people is both monarchical and 
patriarchal. Each tribe has its chief or king, and his oflice is 
hereditary. There being many towns or villages in a tribe, 
each of these has also its head, and under him there are subor- 
dinate chiefs. These are the aristocracy of the nation, and all 
acknowledge the supremacy of the principal chief. In the 
pitshos, or parliament, or public meeting, great plainness of 
speech is sometimes used. But such meetings are held only 
on great, very great occasions. These utterances of the nobles 
are the pulse of the nation, however, and a wise ruler will not 
fail to be guided by them. Private wrongs — such as thefts, 
murders, aud other crimes — are left to the avenger. The peo- 
ple are most tenacious of their customs. These are a great 
hindrance to progress. Polygamy is a strong barrier both to 
religion and civilization. The women have by far the heavier 
tasks : they cultivate the fields, build the houses and fences, 
and bring in the firewood ; while the men hunt, watch the cat- 
tle, milk the cows, and prepare their furs and skins for mantles. 
Such being the division of labor, the men find it convenient 
to have a number of wives. Notwithstanding all this, however, 
the Bechuanas are superior to many other tribes. They are 
savages only in a restricted sense ; but their susceptibility to 
religious impression is most obtuse. If it be attempted to con- 
vince them that they are sinners, they will boldly affirm that 
there is not a sinner in the tribe. 

Missionary work among such people must in itself always be 
very difficult ; and there are also other discouragements. At 
Kuruman there was, in the first instance, a great deal of manual 
labor. Houses had to be built for worship and for teaching 
and for residence ; workshops had to be constructed, and the 
station being several miles from the river, a water-ditch had to 
be dug ; and as this passed through the gardens of the natives, 



486 MOFFAT, THE MISSIOJ^ART. 

the water was not seldom cut off before it reached the home 
of those who had prepared tlie way for it. 

The acquisition of the language is always, in such circum- 
stances, an object of the first importance, but it is often a most 
toilsome work. There is neither time nor place for retirement, 
and no interpreter worthy of the name. The reducing of an 
oral language to writing requires much pains on the part of a 
missionary ; Ixit it is a thing that must be done — he must be 
able to convey his meaning in words of his own choosing. In 
speaking, it is safer to trust to an imperfect utterance than it 
is to employ an interpreter. "When one makes a mistake, the 
natives will smile ; whereas, when an interpreter has to render 
one's meaning, he not unfrequently puts his own conception 
into the statement. It has always been a prolonged and ardu- 
ous task for Europeans to master the African tongues, there 
being no rules other than mere usage, and usage being far 
from uniform in different circumstances. [Natives, however, 
are not so charitable towards an interpreter who knows their 
language, as they are to a stranger of whom they know that he 
cannot fully express himself. 

For many j^ears Moffat continued his missionary labors at 
the Kuruman, making many excursions to distant tribes, and 
gradually extending the outposts of civilization farther into 
the interior. Before he retired from the good work, he had 
seen the missionary stations pushed as far as the village of 
Kolobeng, on the head waters of the Limpopo, in lat. 24° S. 
Stations were established among the Barolongs, who live to the 
north of the Bechuana country, among the Bamangwato 
Mountains ; also among the Basutos, Maulatees, and Corannas. 
Moshesh, King of the Basutos, had long desired a missionary, 
and in 1833 Messrs. Casilis, Arbousset, and Goselin, connected 
with the French Evangelical Society, arrived in the country. 
They have since been reinforced by the Wesley an and other 
societies, so that now, in a land which was formerly the theatre 
of rapine and murder, there is a healthy civilizing in fluence 
exercised over many thousands of people. 

Moffat's account of his various missionary journeys is highly 
interesting ; but it would be useless to follow them in detail, 
since most of the region which he traversed, and many of the 
tribes which he met, were subsequently examined more fully 
by other travellers, and are described in preceding chapters, 
ihe only other extract which we shall make from his narrative 
will be the following description of a curious people who live 
in trees — a tribe never before seen by a white man — whom 



MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY. 



487 



he fell in with on a journey which he undertook in 1829 to the 
country of the Matsebele, lying in tlie unknown territory north- 
east of the Kuruman, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. 
Just before reaching the frontier of tlie Matsebele country, 
the party encamped beside a fine rivulet. "My attention," 




MOSHESH, CHIEF OP THE BASUTOS. 

says Moffat, "was arrested by a beautiful and gigantic tree 
standing in a defile leading into an extensive and woody 
ravine between a high range of mountains. Seeing some in- 
dividuals employed on the ground under its shade, and the 
conical points of what looked like houses in miniature pro- 
truding through its evergreen foliage, I proceeded thither, and 
found that the tree was inhabited by several families of Ba- 
kones, the aborigines of the country. I ascended by the 
notched tl-unk, and found, to my amazement, no less than 



488 MOFFAT, THE MISSIONARY. 

seventeen of these aerial abodes, and three others unfinished 
On reaching the topmost hut, about thirty feet from the ground, 
I entered and sat down. Its only furniture was the hay which 
covered the floor, a spear, a spoon, and a bowlful of locusts. 
Not having eaten anything that day, and, from the novelty of 
my situation, not wishing to return immediately to the wagons, 
I 'asked a woman wlio sat at the door with a babe at her 
breast, permission to eat. This she granted with pleasure, 'and 
soon brought me more in a powdered state. Several more 
females came from the neighboring roosts, stepping from 
branch to branch to see the stranger, who was as great a curi- 
osity to thenl as the tree was to him. I then visited tlie differ- 
ent abodes, which were on several principal branches. The 
structure of these houses was very simple. An oblong scaffold, 
about seven feet wide, is formed of straight sticks ; on one end 
of this platform a small cone is formed, also of straight sticks, 
and thatched with grass. A person can nearly stand upright 
in it ; the diameter of the floor is about six feet. The house 
stands on the end of the oblong, so as to leave a little square 
space before the door. On the day previous I had passed 
several villages, some containing forty houses, all built on poles 
about seven or eight feet from the ground, in the form of a 
circle ; the ascent and descent are by a knotty branch of a tree 
placed in front of tlie house. In the centre of the circle there 
is always a heap of the bones of the game they have killed. 
Such were the domiciles of the impoverished thousands of the 
aborigines of the country, who, having been scattered and 
peeled by Mosilikatse, had neither herd nor stall, but subsisted 
on locusts, roots, and the chase. They adopted this mode of 
architecture to escape the lions which abound in that country." 
It was Moffat's daughter whom, as we have seen, Living- 
stone married almost at the outset of his career in Africa ; 
and in him Moffat found a successor who carried forward glori- 
ously the great work which he himself had so nobly begun. 



■i 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Thomson's journey in eastern ateica. 

Keith Johnston was dispatched by the London Geographical 
Society, in 1878, with an exploring expedition to East Africa, 
charged with examining the country in the neighborhood of 
Lakes Tanganyika and Nyassa. Mr. Johnson died at Beho- 
beho, just at the borders of the objective region of the expedi- 
tion, on the 23d of June, 1879, and the whole responsibility of 
the undertaking fell upon Mr. Joseph Thomson, his geologist 
and general assistant, a young man twenty-two years of age, to 
whom this was almost the first serious experience in life. Mr. 
Thomson gave a most interesting account of the expedition, 
which was attended by unexampled success, at a meeting of the 
Society on the 8th of November last. His story is enlivened 
with accounts of different tribes of the most diversified charac- 
ters and degrees of civilization, living by the side of one ano- 
ther. Leaving Behebeho on the 2d of July, the expedition 
went toward the west, into the country of the Wakhutu, pass- 
ing through the valley of the Mgeta, where perennial showers 
precipitated from the high mountain-range on the right, which 
forms the ridge of the great central plateau of the continent^ 
stimulates a tropical vegetation to grow and rot in marshy 
tracts. Under the influence of such an enervating and mala- 
rious climate, the Wakhutu are one of the most miserable and 
apathetic races to be found in Africa, and presented a disgust- 
ing sight to the traveler as they gathered around him in crowds, 
" sitting with their miserable, withered bodies doubled up, and 
idiotic, lack-luster gaze." Their neighbors, the Mehenge, a 
hitherto unheard-of tribe, living between the Ruaha and Uranga 
Rivers, were brought several years ago in contact with a migra- 
tion of Zooloos, and have adopted the arms, dress, and manners 
of those people, although in other respects having no affinity 
with them. To the Wakhutu the Mehenge are a warhke and 
dreaded tribe ; to the English traveler, " they were a set of most 
arrant cowards, a mean, sneaking, lying race, unworthy of the 
name of men." Ten days were occupied in crossing the moun- 



THOMSON'S JOURNEY IN EASTERN AFRICA. 

tain-ranges that bound the central plateau — a charming journey, 
with diversified scenery and luxuriant vegetation — after which 
the party entered upon a bleak moorland country four or five 
thousand feet high, unrelieved by hill or dale or forest-tree. 
The scanty population of this barren district of Uhehe are set- 
tled in villages at very wide intervals ; " the people are a fine- 
looking race of gentleman savages, who dress indifferently in 
nothing, or roll themselves into a winding-sheet of twelve yards 
of cotton." They treated their visitors courteously, " and al- 
ways took indirect means of telling us anything unpleasant." 
Another plateau, from six to nine thousand feet high, extends 
around the north and east sides of Lake ]N"yassa, half way to 
Lake Tanganyika and around Lake Hikwa, or Leopold, and is 
inhabited by three tribes in the lowest physical and mental 
condition, with whom it was almost impossible to communicate, 
as they seemed to be devoid of abstract ideas, and shut out 
from all knowledge and communication with the outside world. 
A short distance beyond the northwest corner of the beautiful 
Lake Nyssa, the expedition came to Makula's country, where 
the life and manners appeared of charming Arcadian simplicity. 
"The clean and ornamental villages would have adorned the 
neigliborhood of any nobleman's park, and the richness of the 
soil was quite unrivaled"; and Mr. Thomson left, as he left 
no other people, with regret, a country which he had entered 
with apprehension. Thence the expedition passed through the 
country of the bold, rude, exceedingly inhospitable Wanyika; 
through Itawa, where Mr. Thomson was taken prisoner, and 
escaped by laughing at the excited warriors and being thought 
uncanny; and through other not very remarkable districts, to 
the "noble river Lukuga" and Lake Tanganyika. The Lukuga 
winds through a charming valley, with beautiful wooded hills 
rising on each side from its borders, adorned with forest clumps 
and open glades, where antelopes and buffaloes grazed in abun- 
dance. The river moved along in an exceedingly rapid current, 
full of cataracts, along which it roared and surged, making any 
attempt at navigation a matter of impossibility. Mr. Thomson 
would have followed it, but his men refused to go farther, and 
he turned back. He passed three weeks with the Warua, a 
very fine-looking race of men, living in the plain between the 
Lukuga and the Lualaba. They " are possessed of well-made 
figures, which the women adorn most artistically with tattooing. 



THOMSON'S JOURNEY IN EASTERN AFRICA. 

They wear a kilt made of the fibers of the Mwale palm, and 
dress their hair in the most elaborate fashion, the operation re- 
quiring two days' hard work. They are exceedingly ingenious 
in their carvings, and in every respect they are neat in their 
appearance and cleanly in their habits, but there all praise 
ends." They are arrant scoundrels and thieves, and one is not 
sure of his life among them for a moment. 

The feature of the return journey to Zanzibar most worthy 
ctf remark was the sight — the first to Europeans — from the 
highlands of Fipa, of the curious Lake Rukwa, Likwa, or 
Hikwa, to which Mr. Thomson took the liberty|of giving a 
fourth name, Leopold. It is situated about four thousand feet 
above the sea, is surrounded by precipitous mountains about as 
much higher, and has no visible outlet. 

The people of the country are agriculturists, who do not join 
either in war or the chase ; their chief is a king with absolute 
power, who lives on native beer, and is prevented by custom 
from wearing anything but a simple loin-cloth. 

Mr. Thomson reached Zanzibar in the spring of 1880. 
During his journey of a year in this most difficult country, he 
lost only one of the one hundred and fifty men with whom he 
started ; and though often placed in critical positions, he never 
so much as once had to fire a gun for either offensive or defen- 
sive purposes. 



t 



INDEX. 



A-beghan 159 

Aboo Sammat 434 

A.byssinia 27 

Abyssinians, the 23 

Adamaua 34, 70 

Axiimokoo 452 

Africa, origin of the name, 7 ; its geographical 
position, 8 ; dimensions, 8 ; physical geography, 
8 ; lake and river systems, 11 ; climate, 13 ; 
vegetation, 15 ; quadnapeds, 17 ; birds, 19 ; 
fish, 20 ; inhabitants, 20 ; religion, 26 ; political 
and territorial divisions, 26 ; islands, 34. 

" African Association," the 3 

Africaner 472, 478 

Agades 62 

Akka, the 452, 456 

Albert Nyanza, 294, 312, 398 

Alexander, the explorer 4 

Algiers 26 

Alligators 128 

American Board of Missions 466 

American Board of Foreign Missions 469 

American Episcopal Board of Missions 469 

American Missionary Association 470 

Andersson, Carl Johann, 58 ; associates with 
Francis Gallon in an expedition for exploring 
South Africa, 152 ; starts for Lake Ngami, 
152 ; account of the Damaras, 152 ; discovers 
Lake Omanbonde, 153 ; penetrates to the 
country of the Ovambos, 154 ; account of the 
land and people, 155 ; interview with King 
Nangoro, 156 ; abortive attempt to reach the 
Kunene River, 158 ; second attempt to reach 
Lake Ngami, 158 ; drives a herd of cattle 
down the coast to Cape Town, 159 ; sets out 
again for the Lake, 159 ; night adventure with 
wild beasts, 160 ; arrives at Lake Ngami, 163 ; 
discovers and ascends the River Teoge, 164 ; 
disappointed in an attempt to reach Libebe, 
165 ; travels alone across th% wilderness to 
Namaqua-land, 166 ; returns to Europe, 166 ; 
second attempt to reach the Kunene River, 



166 ; struggles in the wilderness, 167 ; com- 
pelled to return, 167 ; second journey to Lak« 
Omanbonde, 168 ; hunting feats, 168 ; third 
attempt to reach the Kunene River, 168 ; dis- 
covers the Okavango River, 169 ; prostrated 
with fever and compelled to turn back, 170 ; 
narrow escapes, 170 ; discovers the Kunene 
River, 170 ; death, 170. 

Anengue Lake 204 

Angola 28 

Animals of Africa 17 

Annobom 34 

Antelopes 18 

Apingi, the 218 

Arabs, the .,2, 2a 

Ascension 34 

Ashantee, 81 ; geographical position, 81 ; physi- 
cal geography, 81 ; climate, 81 ; animals and 
productions, 82 ; the people, 82 ; social orgas 
ization, 82 ; customs and industries, 83 ; laws 
and religion, 84 ; history, 85 ; Sir Garnet 
Wolseley's expedition, 86. 

Ashiras, the 213, 216 

Asua River 303, 307 

Atbara River 29c 

Atlas Mountains, the 11 

Babisa, the.. 380 

Baghirmi 34 

Bahr-el-Ghazal 56, 290, 421, 425 

Baikie, Dr 57 

Bakalai, the 209 

Baker, Sir Samuel, 292 ; organizes an expe- 
dition to search for Speke and Grant, 292 ; 
explores the Atbara and the Blue Nile, 293 ; 
difficulties at Khartoom and Gondokoro, 293 ; 
meeting with Speke and Grant, 293 ; resolves 
to complete their work, 295 ; hostility of the 
traders, 295 ; march to Latooka, 296 ; alliance 
with Ibrahim, 297 ; arrival of Tarrangolle. 299 ; 
conflict with the natives, 299 ; residence at 



490 



INDEX. 



TarrangollS, 300 ; visit to Obbo, 301 ; Kat- 
chiba the sorcerer-chief, 302 ; returns to La- 
tooka, 303 ; prostrated with fever, 304 ; collects 
information regarding the interior, 305 ; sets 
out for Unyoro, 306 ; the Nile reached, 307 ; 
difficulties with the natives, 308 ; arrives at 
Kamrasi's capital, 309 ; insulted by Kamrasi, 
309 ; resumes the march, 310 ; discovers the 
Albert Nyanza Lake, 311 ; voyage on the lake, 
313; mouth of the Victoria Nile, 314; ascends 
the river in canoes, 317 ; Murchison Falls, 
318 ; attacked by a hippopotamus, 319 ; march 
by land up the river, 320 ; deserted by his 
guides, 323 ; sufferings and sickness, 324 ; in- 
vited to Kamrasi's capital, 325 ; sets out for 
Gondokoro, 326 ; arrival, 327 ; returns to 
England and is created a Knight, 328 ; accepts 
a commission for the Khedive of Egypt to sup- 
press the slave-trade in the Nile region, 329 ; 
his expeditionary force, 329 ; the " Forty 
Thieves," 330 ; war with the Baris, 330 ; limit 
of navigation of the Nile, 331 ; march to Ma- 
sindi, 332 ; the King attempts to poison him, 
332 ; retreat to Faliko, 333 ; final triumph over 
the slave-traders, 333 ; organizes the new gov- 
emment, 333 ; returns to England, 334. 

Balonda, the 130 

Bamangwato, the 108 

Bambarra 33 

Bambarre 401 

Bango, King of the Oroungou 188 

Bangweolo, Lake 369, 387, 392, 414 

Baobab-tree 63, 64, 1 10 

Baraka 184 

Barbary States 26 

Bari-country 330 

Barmen 152 

Barnim, Freiherr von 419 

Barotse, the 122 

Barrow, the explorer 4 

Barth, Overweg, and Richardson, 61 ; their 
expedition to Northern Africa, 61 ; set out from 
Tripoli, 61 ; reach Murzook, 62 ; Agades and 
its Sultan, 62 ; Barth captured by robbers, 62 ; 
they reach Kano, 65 ; Earth's description of 
the town, 65 ; Death of Richardson, 67 ; Barth 
goes on to Kukawa, 67 ; visits Lake Tsad, in 
company with Overweg, 69 ; Overweg explores 
the Lake in a boat, 6g ; Barth makes a journey 
to Adamaua, 69 ; reaches the Benue (Niger), 
71 ; forbidden to proceed further, and returns 
to Kukawa, 72 ; Barth and Overweg make an 
excursion to Kanem, 74 ; encounter robber 
tribes and are obliged to turn back, 74 ; Barth 
joins an expedition against Mandara, 75 ; 
slave-hunting, 76 ; Barth makes a journey to 



Baghirmi, 77 ; reaches the Shary, 79 ; is de- 
tained in Baghirmi, 79 ; Death of Overweg, 
80 ; Barth journeys to Timbuctoo where he is 
detained for nearly two years, 80 ; explores the 
middle course of the Niger, 80 ; returns to 
Europe, 81. 

Basle Missionary Society 469 

Batoana, the 163, 166 

Batoka, the 149 

Batoka Salutations 149 

Bayeiye, the 96 

Beaufort, Admiral Sir Francis 2 

Bechuanas, the 89, 108, 480, 485 

Bedingfield, Captain 58 

Beko, Dr 4> S4 

Benguela 28 

Benguela, San Felipe de 171 

Bennett, James Gordon 355 

Berberines, the 20 

Berbers, the 20, 2c 

Biagano 203 

Bihe 171, 175 

Blue Nile 53, 290 

Blacksmiths, superstition concerning 62 

Bochart 2 

Boers, the 3i> 9i> 105 

Bomby, the Akka 454 

Bongo, .the 431 

Bornu 34 

Bourbon 34 

Brotherhood, ceremony of making 241 

Brown, the explorer 4 

Bruce, James 42 

Buffalo, the ,19 

Burchell, Dr 4, 480 

Burckhardt, John Louis 46 

Burial customs on the Nyassa 343 

Burton, Capt. Richard F., 55 ; sets out from 
Zanzibar on an expedition to Lake Tangan- 
yika, 238 ; account of the maritime country 
and tribes; 239; arrives at Zungomero, 240; 
crossing the mountains, 241 ; the tirikeza^ 
242 ; terrible ascent of a mountain pass, 243 ; 
account of the mountain region and its inhab- 
itants, 245 ; crossing Ugogo, 246; account of 
the country and people, 247 ; the " Land of 
the Moon," 250 ; arrival at Kazeh, 250 ; ac- 
count of Unyamwezi and its inhabitants, 253 ; 
the march to the lake, 258 ; arrival at Ujiji, 
259 ; exploring I^ake Tanganyika, 261 ; resi- 
dence at Ujiji, 263 ; account of the country 
and people, 263 ; return to Kazeh, 265 ; Speke 
discovers the Victoria Nyanza, 266 ; arrival at 
Zanzibar, 266^ 

Bushman method of killing lions 112 

Bushmen 25, 100 



INDEX. 



491 



Cailland, the explorer 4 

Caille, the explorer 4 

Cambyses i 

Cameroons, the ii 

Camma-country, the 202 

Campbell, John H» 47 

Canaries, the 34 

Cannibalism 201, 439, 450 

Cape Colony 29 

Cape Lopez 188 

Cape Verde Islands 34 

Carthaginans, the i 

Casembe 387, 389, 390 

Cassange 141 

Central Africa 33, 328 

Chambez6 River 359, 380, 387, 415 

Chibisa, - 339 

Chiboque, the 136, 180 

Chikapa River 143 

Chikongo, chief of the Okavangari 169 

Chisera River 386 

Chitambo 415 

Chitapangwa 381 

Chobe River loi, 113, 125 

Ciiristian Missions in Africa 464 

Chuma 376, 415 

Church of England Missionary Society 466 

Church Missionary Society of London 4 

Circumcision among the Bechuanas and Kaf- 

fres 108 

Clapperton, Captain Hugh 48 

Climate of Africa 13 

Climate of Central Africa 394 

Coanza River 171 

Congo 28 

Congo River, the 12, 58, 373 

Comoro Isles 34 

Copts, the 20 

Cowan, Dr 480 

Crocodiles 348 

Crowther, Samuel 468 

Dahomey 28 

Damaras, the 152 

Darfur 34 

Death, native dread of 211 

Decken, Baron von 54 

Delisle 2 

Delta of the Zambesi 335 

Denham, Lieut. -Col. Dixon 49 

Denovan, Captain 480 

Dllolo, Lake -135 

Dinka, the 426 

X)v Chaillu, Paul B., 59 ; leaves America for 
the Gaboon River, 184 ; account of Mpong\ve or 
coast tribes, 184 ; their method of choosmg a 



King, 186 ; starts for the interior, 188 ; King 
Bango's ball, 188 ; discoveries in natural his- 
tory, 189 ; account of the Shekianis, 190 ; 
returns to the Gaboon, and sets Out for the 
country of the Fan, 192 ; first sight of gor- 
illas, 193 ; reaches the Fan-country, 194 ; 
gorilla hunt, 195 ; visits the king, 197 ; native 
elephant hunt, 199 ; account of the Fan, 199 ; 
returns to the coast, 202 ; establishes his head- 
quarters at Biagano or " Washington," 203 ; 
capture of a young gorilla, 203 ; starts again 
for the interior, 204 ; discovers a new ape, 
205 ; gorilla-hunting, 206 ; discovers the Koo- 
loo-Kamba ape, 207 ; native hunter killed by 
a gorilla, 208 ; returns to the coast, 209 ; ac- 
count of the Bakalai, 309 ; sets out for Ashira- 
land, 213 ; reception by the Ashiras, 213 ; visit 
to the king, 215 ; account of the Ashiras, 216 ; 
penetrates to Apingi-land, 217 ; account of the 
Apingi, 218 ; elected King of the Apingi, 220 ; 
return to coast and end of his explorations, 
220 ; account of the gorilla, 220. 

Duncan, the explorer 4 

Dyoor River 429 

Dyoor tribe 430 

Egypt 26 

Eland, the 18 

Elephant, the 19 

Ellis, Rev. Wm 39 

EUyria 296 

Ethiopic Race, the 23 

Evans, the Missionary 480 

Faloro. 289 

Fan, the cannibal tribe 194, 199, 202 

Farquhar 357 

Fashoda 422 

Fatiko 307, 333 

Fernando Po 34 

Fernand Vaz River 206 

Fetichism 464 

Fetich-seminary 233 

Frere, Sir Bartle, his Mission to Zanzibar.. . .459 

Gaboon River 184 

Gallas, the 24 

GaloE, the 232 

Gallon, Francis T52, 159 

Gassiot, the explorer 5 

Gazawa 64 

Gazelle River 56, 290, 421, 425 

Geer 420 

Ghanze . 159 

Ghattas 422 

Giraffe, the 17 



492 



INDEX. 



Glasgow Missionary Society 466 

Gnu, the 17 

Gold Coast 28 

Gondokoro 289 

Gorilla, the 193, 195, 203, 206, 208, 220 

Goumbi 206 

Grain Coast 28 

Grass-barrier, the 425 

Green, the elephant-hunter 166, 170 

Griqua-land 30 

Guinea Coast 27 

Hamilton, the missionary 480 

Harris, the explorer 4 

Hartmann, Dr 419 

Herodotus i 

Hippopotamus, the 17 

Hippopotamus-hunters 412 

Honey -guide, the 338 

Hornemann, Frederic Conrad 46 

Hottentots 25 

Houssa 33 

Hovas, the 36 

Huet 2 

Humboldt Institution, the 419 

Imaum of Muscat 460 

Inhabitans of Africa 20 

Itawa-Lunda 382, 385 

Ivory Coast 28 

Ivory merchants 421 

Jews in Africa 23 

Joliba, or Niger, the 13 

Jondo-Goiro, King of the Galos 235 

Jononga Lake 233 

Kabebo, capital of Moluwa ».t8i 

Kabyles, the 21 

Kaffraria, British 29 

Kaffres, the 24 

Kaganda 168 

Kalahari Desert 10,94,418 

Kalongosi River 386 

Kamrasi King of Unyoro. .288, 308, 309, 324, 325 

Karuma Falls 289 

Kano 34. 65 

Karagwe 273 

Kamak Logon 77 

Kasai River 135 

Katanga 391 

Katchiba, the sorcerer-chief 302, 304 

Katema 133 

Katsena 64 

Kawara, or Niger, the iZi 57 



Kazeh 250, 271 

Kenia, Mount S, 54 

Kilimandjaro, Mount 5, 54 

Kimbundas, the 171, 178 

Kirk, Dr 337 

Kissangl, the 173 

Y issere (Arabian bread) 428 

Kitangule River 277 

Kizinga 396 

Kobshi, curious custom connected with 73 

Koffee Kalkalli, King of Ashantee 84 

Kolobeng 92 

Komadugu, the 67 

Kombala 176 

Kooloo-Kamba, the 207 

Kordofan 36 

Krapf, Dr 5 

Kukawa 68 

Kunagera 436 

Kunene (or Cunene) River 158, 166 

Kuruman 89 

Lacerda, Dr 390 

Laing, Alexander Gordon 50 

Lake Anengue 204 

Lake Bangweolo 369, 387, 392, 414 

Lake Dilolo 135 

Lake Liemba , 381 

Lake Lincoln 402 

Lake Moero 384, 386 

Lake Mofwe 387 

Lake Ngami 96, 163, 165 

Lake Nyassa 340 

Lake Omanbonde 153, 168 

Lake Shirwa 340 

Lake Tanganyika 259,, 358, 367, 399 

Lander, Richard 49 

Latooka 296 

Latookas, the 298 

Lattakop 477 

Lechulatebe, chief of the Batoana.97, 99, x6o, 163 
Leeambye River (same as Zambesi). 

Leeba River 123, 128, 129, 132 

Libebe 164, 166 

Liemba, Lake 381 

Lincoln, Lake 40V 

Lingi-Lingi Mts 174 

Linyanti 114 

Lion, the African 19 

LiviNGSTONF, David, his early years, 87 ; joins 
the London Missionary Society, 88 ; arrives a- 
Cape Town, 88 ; reaches Kuruman, 89 ; setdes 
among the Bechuanas, 89 ; removes to Ma- 
botsa, 89 ; adventure with a lion, 89 ; attaches 
himself to Sechele's tribe, 91 ; removes with 
them to Kolobeng, 92 ; starts for Lake Ngami, 



INDEX. 



493 



, 93 ; reaches the Zouga, 95 ; discovers the 

Lake, 96 ; fails in an attempt to penetrate to 
the Alakololo country, 98 ; returns to Koloben^, 
98 ; makes a second attempt to reach Sebitu- 
ane, 99 ; succeeds in a third attempt, 100 ; 
visits Sebituane at Sesheke, 102 ; discovers the 
Zambesi River, 104 ; returns to Kolobeng, 105 ; 
sends his family to England, 106 ; sets out on 
a journey across the continent, 107 ; reaches 
Linyanti, 114; is attacked with fever, 118; 
leaves Linyanti, 119; readies the Zambesi, 
120 ; ascends the river in canoes, 121 ; dis- 
covers the Leeba River, 123 ; returns to Lin- 
yanti to prepare for his journey to the West 
Coast, 124 ; embarks on the Chobe, 125 ; as- 
cends the Zambesi and the Leeba to the town 
of Manenko, 126 ; visits Shinte, chief of the 
Balonda, 130 ; sets out from Shinte's capital, 
132 ; reaches Katema's town, 133 ; Lake Dilolo, 
135 ; discovers the Kasai River, 135 ; the peo- 
ple of this region, 136 ; encounter with hostile 
Chiboque, 136 ; crosses the Quilo and enters 
Portuguese territory, 140 ; arrives at St. Paul 
de Loanda, where he remains four months, 
141 ; leaves Loanda on his return journey, 142 ; 
boat attacked by a hippopotamus, 145 ; reaches 
Linyanti, 145 ; resolves to descend the Zam- 
besi to the East Coast, 146 ; discovers the 
Victoria Falls, 146; reaches Quillimane, 150; 
sails for England, 150 ; returns to Africa to ex- 
plore the Zambesi River and its affluents, 335 ; 
scenery along the river, 336 ; explores the 
river Shire, 339 ; discovers Lake Shirwa, 340 ; 
discovers Lake Nyassa, 340 ; re-visits Lin-- 
yanti, 341 ; death of Mrs. Livingstone, 341 ; 
the expedition recalled by the Government, 
342 ; returns to England, 342 ; summary of the 
results of the expedition, 342 ; returns to Africa, 
strikes into the interior, and spends six years 
in exploring the Lake region, 360 ; is found at 
Ujiji by Stanley, 365 ; explores with Stanley 
the northern end of Lake Tanganyika, 367 ; 
letter to James Gordon Bennett, Jr., 368 ; his 
" Last Journals," 375 ; origin of his Seven 
Years' Expedition, 375 ; sets out from Mikin- 
dany Bay for I^ake Nyassa, 376 ; difficulties 
with his men, 376 ; horrors of the Kilwa slave- 
trade, 377 ; reaches Lake Nyassa, 377 ; rounds 
the southern shore of the I^ake and marches 
northward, 378 ; curious burial custom, 379 ; 
reaches the Chambeze River, 380 ; loss of his 
medicine-chest, 380 ; reaches Lake Liemba, 
the southern part of Tanganyika, 381 ; des- 
patch to Lord Clarendon describing his ex- 
plorations, 382 ; falls in with Arab ivory and 
slave-hunters, 384 ; account of Nsama's people, 



385 ; discovers Lake Moero, 386 ; visits Ca- 
sembe's town, 387; reception by Casembe, 
388 ; detention in Lunda, 392 ; discovers Lake 
Bangweolo, 392 ; war between the Arabs and 
natives, 393 ; treatise on the Central African 
climate, 394 ; theory of the Nile sources, 397 ; 
march to Lake Tanganyika, 398 ; has a severe 
attack of pneumonia, 398 ; reaches Ujiji, 399 ; 
sets out for Manyuema, 400 ; description of 
the country and people, 400 ; tries to reach the 
Lualaba River, 401 ; laid up three months 
with ulcers on the feet, 402 ; naming the rivers 
and lakes discovered, 402 ; account of the Soko, 
a new ape, 403 ; reaches the Lualaba, 406 ; 
frightful massacre of the natives by Arabs* 
406 ; Livingstone overcome with horror, 409 ; 
returns to Ujiji, 410 ; meeting with Stanley, 

410 : accompanies Stanley to Unyanyembe, 

411 ; object of his last explorations, 411 ; here- 
ditary hippopotamus-hunters, 412 ; sets out for 
Lake Bangweolo, 414 ; failing health, 414 ; 
crosses the Chambeze, 415 ; last days, 415 ; 
death, 416 ; his" character and achievements, 
417 ; buried in Westminster Abbey, 418. 

Loanda, St. Paul de 141 

Loango 28 

Loangwa River 379 

Lobal 183 

Lobemba 382 

Lobisa 383 

Lokalueje River 132 

Londa 126, 388 

London Missionary Society 88, 465 

Lualaba River. .36, 57, 58, 369, 373, 399, 402, 406 

Luapula River 57, 386 

Lukuga River 399 

Luta Nzige. {See Albert Nyanza.) 

Lyon, George Francis 50 

Mabotsa 89 

Mackenzie, Bishop 343 

Madagascar, its geographical position, 35 ; phy- 
sical geography, 35 ; climate, 35 ; inhabitants, 
35 ; conversion to Christianity, 36 ; ancient 
rehgion, 36 ; reign of Radama I., 37 ; mis- 
sionaries driven out, 38 ; persecution of the 
native converts, 38 ; accession of Radama IL ; 
missionaries recalled, 39 ; progress of the island 
in civilization, 40. 

Madeiras, the 34 

Magungo J03, 305, 315 

Magyar, Ladislaus, 59 ; early life, 171 ; strikes 
inland from Benguela, 171 ; terrible passage of 
the coast mountains, 172 ; scales the Lingi- 
Lingi mountains, 174 ; establishes his residence 
in Bihe, 175 ; visits the King^ 176 ; native su* 



4:94: 



INDEX. 



perstitlons, 175, 177 ; marries the king's daugh- 
ter, 178 ; sets out for the Moluwa Kingdom, 
179 ; crosses the Olowihenda forests, 179 ; resi- 
dence in Moluwa, 181 : returns to Bihe, 182 ; 
reaches the Kunene River, 183 ; other explora- 
tions, 183. 

Makololo, the 97, 104, 116, 119, 123, 345 

Makololo dance 123 

Makololo huts '. 123 

Makombwe, the 412 

Malagarazi River 253 

Malaghetta or Grain Coast 28 

Mambari, the 105 

Mamochisane, daughter of Sebituane. ..104, 114 

Manenko, a female chief 129 

Manganja, the 379 

Manyuema 399, 401 

Masinje River 377 

Matiamvo 133 

Matsebele, the 487 

Mauritius 34 

Mazitu, the 378 

Mbene 192 

Mbozhwa, the 393 

Meshera, the 425 

Mesne 252 

Metals, value of in Africa 431 

Methodist Missions 469 

Mikindany Bay 376 

Mirambo 363 

Mittoo tribes, the 435 

Moero, Lake 384, 386 

Moffat, Robert, 471 ; joins the London Mis- 
sionary Society, 371 ; goes to Namaqua-land, 
472 ; at Africaner's Kraal, 472 ; missionary jour- 
neys, 475 ; journey to Griqua-land, 476 ; ad- 
venture with baboons, 477 ; visit to Cape Town, 
477 ; settlers at Kuruman, 481 ; rain-makers, 
482 ; missionary labors, 486 ; houses in trees, 
487 ; return to England, 482. 

Mofwe, Lake 387 

Molehabangue 486 

Moluwa 179, 181 

Moluwas, the 181 

Mombas 54 

Monbuttoo, the. 447 

Moors, the 22 

Moravian Missions 466 

Morocco 26 

Moshesh, King of the Basutos 486 

** Mountains of the Moon " 10 

Mourning-time with the Camma 205 

Mozambique 33 

Mpongwe, the 183 

Mpongwe method of choosing a king 186 

M'rooli, capital of Unyoro 3o8 



Mtesa, King of Uganda. 277, 279 

Mu-Kankala, the 180 

Mummery 45^ 

Mundombe, the 172 

Munza, King of the Monbuttoo ....440, 443, 446 

Murchison Falls 318, 339 

Murray 93 

Murzook 62 

Naliele 122 

Nangoro, chief of the Ovambos 155 

Natal 29, 30 

Ndiayai, King of the Fan 197 

Necho, King of Egypt i 

Ngami, Lake 96, 163, 165 

Nganye, a Niam-Niam chief. 436 

Niam-Niam, the 437 

Niger, the 12, 57 

Nile, account of the 11, 53, 290, 397, 458 

Nsama 384 

Nsewue, the Akka 455 

Ntamb'ounay Falls 193 

Nubia 26 

Nubians, the 2c 

Nyassa Lake 34c 

Obbo 301 

Obindji, chief of the Bakalai 207 

Ogowai River 232, 236 

Okamabuti 154 

Okavangari, the 169 

Okavango River 169 

Old Kalabar Missions 465 

Olenda, King of the Ashiras 215 

Olowihenda forests 180 

Omanbonde, Lake 153, 168 

Omar, Sheikh » 68 

Orange River, the 13 

Ostrich, the 107 

Oswell 93 

Otjidambi 167 

Otjombinde 159 

Otjimbingue 170 

Ovambo, the 154 

Overweg. (See Barth.) 

Palace of the King of Uganda 278 

Pahnerston Fountain 402 

Palmyra Palm 95 

Paris Missionary Society 466 

Park, Mungo 44 

Patooan Island '. 320 

Petherick 56 

Phoenicians, the i 

Plant, Mr., of Natal 6 

Polygamy 190, 201, 210, 212, 433, 449 



INDEX, 



495 



Port Rek •. 425 

Portuguese, they circumnavigate Africa 2 

Portuguese settlements 30 

Ptolemies, the i 

Pungo Adongo, rocks of 143 

Pygmies, the 451 

Quacha, the 17 

Quengueza, King 204 

Quillimane 150 

Quilo River I.. 140 

Radama 1. of Madagascar 36 

Radama II 38 

Rasoherina, Queen of Madagascar 40 

Rain-makers 91, 482 

Ranavalona, Queen of Madagascar 38 

Redmann, the missionary 5 

Religion, native • . . . • 26, 464 

Remandji, chief of the Apingi 218 

Rhinoceros, the 18 

Richardson. (See Barth.) 

Rionga 307, 3?i 

Ripon Falls 286 

Romans, the i 

Rovuma River 352 

Rumanika, King of Karagwe 273 

Ruppell, the explorer .4 

Russeger, the explorer 4 

Rusisi River 367 



' Munza's capital, 440; Munza's palace, 440; 
state reception by the King, 441 ; the public 
hall, 442 ; Munza, 443 ; Munza dancing before 
his wives, 446 ; account of the Monbuttoo, 447 ; 
their cannibalism, 450 ; the Pygmies, 451 ; 
Adimokoo, 452 ; Pygmy soldiers, 454 ; Nsewue, 
the Akka, 455 ; returns to Ghatta's seriba, 
456 ; the seriba burnt, Schweinfurth barely es- 
caping with his life, 457 ; later travels, 457 ; re- 
turns to Europe, 458. 

Sebituane 97, 99, 102 

Sechele gj 

Segu 33 

Sekeletu, chief of the Makololo 114 

Sekwebu, the Makololo 150 

Senegal, the river .12 

Senegambia 27 

Serval, Lieutenant, his travels on the OgowaT, 
231 ; ascends the river in canoes, 231 ; hostility 
of the natives, 232; visits the Sacred Lake 
Jononga, 233 ; curious phenomena, 233, 234 ; 
reception by the priest-king Jondo-Goiro, 235 ; 
visits Anengue Lake, 236 ; returns to the coast, 
236. 
Shary, or Shari, the 75 



Shaw 



•357 



Sackatoo 34 

Sahara, Desert of 8, 27 

Sanshureh River 112 

Scheppmansdorf 152 

Schmidt, George 466 

Schweinfurth, Dr. Georg, 419 ;. first journey 
in Africa, 419 ; aided by the Humboldt In.sti- 
tution to make a botanical exploration of the 
equatorial Nile region, 419 ; lands in Africa a 
second time, 420 ; joins the company of one of 
the ivory merchants, 422 ; starts from Khar- 
toom, 422 ; account of the Shillook tribe, 423 ; 
struggle through the grass-barrier, 425 ; voy- 
age up the Gazelle River, 425 ; the march in- 
land to Ghatta's seriba, 426 ; account of the 
Dinkas, 426 ; the seriba, 428 ; explores the 
Dyoor River, 429 ; festival at Geer, 429 ; ac- 
count of the Dyoor tribe, 430 ; plants a vege- 
table garden, 431 ; account of the Bongo, 
431 ; joins the expedition of Mohammed Aboo 
Sammat, 434 ; sets out for the country of the 
Niam-Niam, 434 ; account of the Mittoo tribe, 
435 ; the final start, 436 ; account of the Niam- 
Niam, 437 ; journey southward, 438 ; the 
water-shed of the Nile, 439 ; entry into King 



Shekianis, the igo 

Shendy 47 

Shillooks, the 422 

Shinte, chief of the Balonda 130 

Shire River 33^, 342 

Shirwa, Lake 340 

Shokuane gi 

Shuluhs, the 21 

Shobo, the Bushman 100, loi 

Sierra Leone 28 

Slave Coast 28 

Slave-trade, 105, 115, 210, 241, 329, 331, 352, 

376, 377, 386, 457, 459 

Snake-himt in the Dilolo Swamp 183 

Sobat River 290 

Socotra 34 

Sofala 33 

Soko, the 403 

Somali country. 33 

Somerville, the explorer 4 

Soud bin Sayd 363 

Southern American Baptist Missions 47c 

Sparrman, Andrew 43 

Speke, Capt. John Hanning, 267 ; joins Bur- 
ton's expedition to Lake Tanganyika, 238 ; 
discovers the Victoria Nyanza, 266 ; organizes 
a second expedition to Africa in company with 
Capt. Grant, 268 ; starts from Zanzibar for the 
interior, 269 ; the caravan, 269 ; arrival at 
Kazeh, 271 ; detained by native wars, 271 ; 



>a4w^ 



496 



INDEX. 



53 



march across Uzinza and Usui, 272 ; Karagwe, 
273 ; interview with King Rumanika, 273 ; a 
royal beauty, 276 ; starts for Uganda, 277 ; ar- 
rival at King Mtesa's palace, 277 ; introduc- 
tion at court, 278 ; detention in Uganda, 285 ; 
sets out for Unyoro, 286 ; reaches the Nile, 
286 ; ascends the river to the point where it 
flows out of the Victoria Nyanza, 287 ; contin- 
ues the march to the capital of Unyoro, 288 ; ex- 
tortions of King Kamrasi, 289 ; descending 
the Nile, 289 ; march to Gondokoro, 289 ; 
meets Baker, 290 ; account of the Nile and its 
affluents, 290 ; return to England, and death, 
291. 

"Sponges,"... 378, 395 

Spingbok, the 18 

Stanley, Henry M., 355 ; commissioned by 
the Herald to search for Livingstone, 355 ; or- 
ganizing his expedition, 356 ; the route of 
travel between the coast and Lake Tangan- 
yika, 358 ; summary of Livingstone's journeys 
from 1866 to the time when Stanley found him 
at Ujiji, 360 ; Stanley's march to Unyan- 
yembe, 361 ; news of Livingstone, 361 ; arrival 
at Unyanyembe, 363 ; war with the natives, 
363 ; defeated, 363 ; makes a southern detour 
to Ujiji, 364 ; meeting with Livingstone, 365 ; 
explores the northern end of Lake Tanganyika, 
367 ; Rusisi River, flows into, and not out of, 
the Lake, 367 ; Livingstone's letter to Mr. 
Hennett, 369 ; returns with Livingstone to 
Unyanyembe, 371 ; march to the coast, 371 ; 
arrival in England, 372 ; honors accorded him, 

373- 

St Helena 34 

St. Thomas • • -34 

Susi 376,415 

Suwarora, King of Usui 272 

Sway River 439 

Syed Burghash, Sultan of Zanzibar 463 

Tanganyika, Lake 259, 358, 367, 399 

TarrangoUe 299 



Tete 



146 



Thomson, the explorer 4 

Tibbus, the 20 

"J'iger, the 19 

Timbuctoo 33 

Tinn6, Madame & Mile 56 

Tirikeza, the 242 

1 Vansvaal Republic 32 

I'ree-huts 487 

Tripoli .26 

Trotter, Captain 4 

I'sad, or Tchad, Lake 3, 8 

I'stetse fly, the loi 



Tuaricks, the •• aj 

Tuckey, James Kingston 48 

Tunis 26 

Tunobis i^g 

Turks in Africa 53 

Uganda 277 

Ugogi 246 

Ugogo 248, 362 



Ujiji 



263 



Ulungu 382 

Universities Mission, the 342, 343 

Unyanyembe 251 

Unyamwezi 250, 253 

Unyoro 286, 30^ 

Usagara 244 

Usui 272 

Uzinza 271 

Vacovia 313 

Vaillant, the explorer 4 

Vardon, Captain : 5 

Vegetation of Africa 15 

Victoria Falls 146, 349 

Victoria Nile, the 314, 321 

Victoria Nyanza 55, 287 

Waday 34 

Wagogo, the 248 

Wahuma, the 271 ' 

Wahumba, the 249 

Wajiji, the 264 

Wak'hutu, the 240 

Wakimbu, the 255 

Walfisch Bay *. 152 

Wanyamwezi, the 255 

Wasagara, the 245 

Watershed of the Nile 439 

Wazaramo, the 239 

Webb's River 402 

Welle River 440 

Wesleyan Missions 466 

West Coast 27 

White Nile 53, 290 

Windy or Windward Coast 28 

Yorubah 467 

Young's River 402 

Zalyanyama Mountains 378 

Zambesi, the ....13, 104, 120, 128, 150, 335, 351 

Zanzibar 33, 35b 

Zebra, the. . .^ 17 

Zouga, the 95 

Zulu-land • 3° , 

Zungomero 34a 



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